Fresh paint

Posted by Baceseras on February 18, 2008 at 17:13:

In Reply to: Fresh paint posted by Daria on February 18, 2008 at 09:50:

: What is the figurative meaning of fresh paint in the phrase: wake up with a life full of fresh paint?

It isn't a set phrase but rather seems to be a one-time invention by the novelist Tim Parks in an essay on eroticism as opportunity and difficulty: "But perhaps the thing to remember when you wake up with a life full of fresh paint and tortuous complications ...."

He appears to mean "when things are attractively bright and shiny, but messy to touch".