Are you guilty of using cliche after cliche? Do you know WHAT a cliche is? Read this...find out!
Clever...or CLICHE
Ok, gang! A few of you have evinced and conveyed sufficient interest in the Woids or WORDS column to move me in the direction of yet another thought provoker. So here goes:1
In my perusing (and that actually means going over CAREFULLY...not just scanning or glancing at idly) of some of the "stories" around here I have stumbled upon, tripped over and literally choked on an abundance, a veritable plethora of platitudes, bromides, old saws and the dreaded CLICHES! These, guys, are THE WORST! To come upon one of them can ruin my day, not to mention what it does to your humble effort at writing the great American, or English, or Canadian, or Australian, or New Zealand or you name it Short Story! These insidious words and phrases have a way of sneaking into the most well intended and original prose: sentences, paragraphs, pages and chapters. They creep stealthily about, they lurk, they even spring...and they do so unsuspectingly and with guile. I don't blame the poor author so much as his or her being unaware. This is the KEY! The writer must always LISTEN to what he or she writes...and above all...BE AWARE of the ready-to-spring CLICHE!2
Here are some prime offenders...! I will not attempt to define these overused, hackneyed, banal, trite expressions. I will merely list some...but, AT THE END OF THE DAY (Yukko)...WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE (Phooey)...BOTTOM LINE...(Boo)...It will be up to you to keep a SHARP LOOKOUT (get the idea?) for these guys! How do I recognize one? I get a sick feeling in the PIT of my STOMACH...and I stop reading whatever it is I am in the midst of! Hey! See if YOU can define the common element that ties all of these together. Let me know!
Avoid like the plague
At death's door
Acid test
Banker's hours
Bite the bullet
Bitter end
Bated breath
Brown as a berry (ever see a brown berry?)
Bolt from the blue
Can of worms
Casting aspersions
Cold feet
Red handed
Cool as a cucumber
Did a number
Die was cast
Drinks like a fish
Clear as a bell
Bright eyed & bushy tailed
Down in the mouth
Stars in her eyes
Face the music
Feeling his oats
Feather in his cap
Foregone conclusion
Fresh as a...daisy!
Finger lickin' good!...submitted by Auburn She-Wolf!
Going to the dogs
Upper hand
Scot free
Whole hog
Green with envy
Grass is always greener...submitted by Auburn She-Wolf!
Was livid!
Hair's breadth
Head over heels
Heart in my mouth
Warm the cockles of one's heart
Heart of gold
In no uncertain terms
One fell swoop
In this day and age
Let it all hang out!
Lock, stock and barrel
Ps and Qs
Nitty gritty
Nth degree
Play it by ear
Pretty as a picture
Driven snow
Rack your brain
Raining cats and dogs
Coming down in buckets
Rake over the coals
Beyond your wildest dreams
Sad but true
Strange but true
Shoot the breeze
Shadow of a doubt
Skin deep
Sink or swim
Short and sweet
Staying power
Stiff upper lip
Strike it rich
Struck dumb
In a nutshell
Sumptuous repast
Whole ball of wax
White as a sheet
Trip the light fantastic
Cold shoulder
Virtual standstill
These are just a few...but some of the prime offenders!
and now, gang,
NEEDLESS TO SAY...........
HAVE A NICE DAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!
GA
Do you know what constitutes a cliche? Are you guilty of hackneyed, banal, stereotypical, overused expressions?
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