I foolishly interpreted the idiom according to its literal sense.

Now that I think of it, I've been asked to look at a haiku he'd written by the tipsy bloke sitting next to me on the train.

When I was in my first years of grade school, my father taught me a haiku and I longed to be a poet. On my Tanabata wish, I also wrote "Please make me a poet". Thirty years have passed and my wish has been granted. I am without doubt an invalid.

The detective took down his testimony on the spot, word for word.

The claim of community involvement is just window dressing; City Hall will do what it wants to anyhow.

When someone speaks with such rhetorical flourish, it starts to sound like they're lying.

She came completely naked into the room, rendering him speechless.

When someone speaks with such rhetorical flourish, it starts to sound like they're lying.

The phrase is meant to insult people.

Things that modify nouns (adjective, or adjectival equivalent).

You can omit the preposition in this phrase.

He explained the literal meaning of the phrase.