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We've all read them, and we've all used them (don't shake your head... you know you have... admit it!)
Ever read some over and over and wonder why the author tends to use that same thing? Could be a word, or a few words together to describe the same thing, or differnet people.
What are your favorite clichés? (Please don't mention your story that it's in... that would be promoting, and it'll make me go
) It can be from your story, or someone else's... published or not. (published stories can be mentioned.... 
)
Least favorite? The ones that make you want to go
when you read it over and over....
And please... no posting of clichéd story ideas. We all know that *you* (collective) don't like (insert genre here).... no need to bring it up yet again.
(edit... general ideas are okay... just not the whole package idea. General idea - tourtured guy. Whole package idea - immortal vampire meets young chickie and they elope .... 
)
Also, no bashing of people's clichés.
and for the love of Mod, keep it g-rated.
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I'll go first
My favorite (or should that be the one I roll my eyes to and cringe when I read) would be:
"Fury rode him hard" When describing how angry someone is. Makes me go
every time I read it. (especially when one of the characters in the series is named Fury.)
"Gimlet stare"... is that on the rocks?
hmmm?
"Breasts to big for her frame" ... oh, poor girl.
"Her flowing blonde hair... unbidden..."
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ooooh
I like this thread.
'Thinking with the wrong head.' Probably wasn't funny the first time it was said.
'like father, like son.' funny movie, bad line.
'Spitting image.' -(Sounds like a really good/revolting street performance)
'One foot on a banana peel the other in the grave' - I just keep picturing someone with ridiculously long legs. -
Thought of more
"... he could swear he saw stars" when something 'ahem' happens.
"he was handsome, but deadly"....
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I know I use them now and then, I just can't think of any at the moment.
I do, however, use the word "actually" far too much. I have to consciously delete them when editing and still I leave a few in. -
this time its personal!
...and to do it, he will have to break all the rules.
both of those were actually used in the commercial for the last james patterson book, and to this day, i have no idea wether it was a spoof or just really really awful. -
There are a lot of really annoying phrases, but I think my least favorite of them is;
-They fit together like two puzzle pieces.
Man, that's a really annoying one. -
Like a moth to candle light - why oh why keep digging this one up.
There are so many other analogies out there that could fit any desired context. -
This is a 'must see' film.
This is a 'must read' book.
Er...no they're not.
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'There'll be hell to pay.' - Does this mean Hells picking up the tab or do I have to pay you in brimstone?
'The
hit the fan.' - We get it, it's a mess.
'In two shakes of a lamb's tail.' - I don't know where they're timing these paralysis-stricken lambs, but whenever this is said grab a snickers bar because you're...
'not going anywhere for a while.'
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'Hands gentle enough to tune violin strings'
If I ever hear this one again, I'm going to scream. It's innacurate!!! I would know. I play violin. You often have to wrestle it to get the stupid peg to turn! -
I hate it in teen flicks where the moody dykie girl will spend the whole film in black only to get the boy of her dreams and then suddenly switch to wearing pastel colours. This springs to mind because I watched the film 'the faculty' the other night (basically its 'the thing' but set in a high school not the antarctic) and the 'violent lesbian' charcater who hates men and life spends the whole film in black and it then turns out in the end that she fancies one of the lead boys and then starts wearing lavender. This to me says that all gay women hate everything and all they need is the right guy to turn them straight and suddenly change their wardrobe.
I will probably think of more but I think that mini rant will do for now. -
"all gay women hate everything and all they need is the right guy to turn them straight and suddenly change their wardrobe."
Duh.
J/K!!!
I've actually noticed this as well. I've also seen similar transformations sans sexual orientation and replace 'right guy' with fame. Avril Lavigne and Kelly Osbourne are just two that come to mind. Compare there looks when they first came on the scene to now.
Either way its a very bad/good cliche. -
Here's another one:
"Quicker than a New York minute" - Yeah we know it's gonna be fast, but i mean like, really.
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Here's one that I actually use a lot.
Her (hair, arms, legs, etc.) were like (natural landform.)
Example: Her arms were like strong trees.
Her hair was like a river.
What's with comparing women to nature? -
bump
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How about: He's the strong silent type. (is he mute).
or He's well hung. (quite alot of images come to mind).
She was young and innocent and sweet. (aren't they all?) some are funny but, most are trite--but used well can be effective. -
I like the well-hung one. XD
(well, I do...)
I can't think of anything. Maybe something comparing to color (like ice-cold eyes or something,) but that's it. I think ice-cold can work quite well in certain situations without sounding too cliche though. : ) -
Interesting thread. I've seen this one a lot and used it a few times too. It's my favorite.
"All Hell broke loose." It really gives the reader an image doesn't it?
Not sure I have a least favorite...then again...
"He was (insert hangman image) like a horse." It just makes me laugh every time I see it. Seriously, how awkward would it be to live like that?
Hehe...tried to keep it g-rated.
*Hopes Barb doesn't open up a can of moderator beat down on him* -
A couple I've come across a lot, 'steel grey eyes and chiselled features' and for the women, 'skin like porcelain.' These make me roll my 'average blue eyes'
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"slender, muscular frame". Dude, either he's one or the other.
"heaving bosom" um, hyperventilation much?
I can't STAND romantic clichés.
anything done "breathlessly". What, no air? Even in the throes of passion, you have to breathe! Which reminds me...
"throes of passion".
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You DO have heaving bosoms if they're quite big though. I know someone who has them the size of basketballs. >.>
It's not very appealing though. lol. -
heh, the 'breathlessly' thing reminds me of something stephen king said in his book, "On Writing" - [paraphrasing] words that end in 'ly' are useless for the most part. they're shortcuts in a craft where verbose is the rule.
give it a try - write without using words that end in 'ly'. your stories sound so much more detailed.
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My least favorite:
A single/lone tear/pearl droped down his/her cheek
Whenever I read this it makes me wanna
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I don't think the tear one is AS bad, but I get your point, lol. I usually don't say 'single'--I say, 'The tear that ran down his/her face.'
I think that's better, lol. You don't really need to say single if there's only one tear. More than one tear would be tears. -
Oh, and another one I just remembered;
Shrugging his shoulders.
(I don't think you can shrug anything else.)
I'll think of others, lol. -
'A single tear graced her cheek, trailing a salty line from her obsidian eyes, caressing her sculpted cheek, and meandering past her pouting lips.'
©Barbara
oh, I have to remember that... that's golden cliched!!!
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How about:
He made a mad dash...
I dash quite a bit but I don't think I'm insane
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1. "And then there were ______."
2. "He/She bit their lip nervously." -- There's so much lip biting or tongue gnawing. I just see it a lot.
3. And in general, characters having almond-shaped eyes. It's as if it's the only eye description available to their imagination.
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His eyes were a deep shade of blue, deep and soft, and staring into them was like drowning in a deep ocean. A pleasant sort of drowning.
I actually wrote that in a story a few years ago (don't mock me, I was an just inexperienced child!). Pure gold, eh?
Notice I use the word 'deep' three times.
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that one makes me laugh.
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Barbara
Feb 18 10:24 AM
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