I was thinking about the phrase ‘The pot calling the kettle black’. It comes from a time where cooking was done over open fires and cookware would become visibly ashy. (Fun fact: It first appears and was perhaps coined by Cervantes in Don Quixote!)
What are some other idioms that have lost their literal connection to time? What would be a good modern replacement?
I do love the imagery of “loose Canon”, and by “love” I mean that as it’s been described and depicted, it’s a truly horrifying situation. So it makes for a really visceral image.
A quick aside: there’s this murder mystery/logic puzzle game called “the Return of the Obra Dinn” that takes place on a merchant ship. The game is basically like a series of still frame dioramas that you have to analyze and figure out what’s going on. There’s a particularly striking scene with a cannon which breaks loose from its chains and several unfortunate sailors. It took me a long time to actually find the third sailor in the scene… (There wasn’t a lot left)