Today's topic is something even veteran reporters and editors seem to have a very shaky grasp of: clichés.
Please bear with me as this post is a bit long, but for good reason: Clichés are perhaps the most common offense in writing and probably the least understood. I'm here to help guide you away from them!
Here are a few prime examples (with a much longer list below) of clichés that ALWAYS should be avoided unless part of a direct quote: leveling the playing field, getting the green light, follow suit, uphill battle, war chest and throwing your hat in the ring.
To me, it's always a good time to remind everyone, professional journalists or simply students writing a term paper or book report, about avoiding clichés.
I'm convinced many writers don't believe it when told clichés are bad
and should be avoided "like the plague" (to use another cliché). They somehow think they make
stories more colorful and expressive. Please trust us on at least this
one point: THEY DON'T. It makes for very weak, unoriginal writing.
The problem often seems to be actually understanding what constitutes a cliché. Here is an extremely simple formula: Unless it literally happened exactly the way you are describing it, it's a cliché 95% of the time. Unless the mayor got handed a light, and the light happened to be the color green, AND that light somehow empowered him to make some decision, he was never "given a green light" to do anything. Unless the city council happens to be playing cards, it can't "follow suit" on something the mayor did. Unless the business is involved in constructing athletic fields, it can't ever "level the playing field." Unless the candidate has a chest in his office and it is labeled "war" and is used for waging a real war, his campaign funds are not in "a war chest." Unless she watched someone spray graffiti on a wall and it was somehow pertinent to her situation, she didn't "see the writing on the wall." And thousands of other examples. REWRITE THEM to clear, precise expressions that do not rely on hackneyed, overused, nonsensical sayings.
Again, this goes back to my inaugural post, which mentioned the sin I have dubbed Parrot's Disease.
Don't copy blindly what you see, no matter how common it is. Make sure it's correct. My prime example is wrongly spelling doughnut as donut just because you see it as donut everywhere.
Here is a list of just some of the thousands of clichés to avoid at all costs. If you see any on this list that you think are actually OK to use, then I'm sorry to be so blunt but that means you do not understand what a cliché is and why they are a sign of bad writing.
Perhaps Wikipedia's take on clichés will be more persuasive.
A cliché is often a vivid depiction of an abstraction that relies upon analogy or exaggeration for effect, often drawn from everyday experience. Used sparingly, they may succeed. However, cliché in writing or speech is generally considered a mark of inexperience or unoriginality.
It's a huge but hardly comprehensive list (borrowed from http://www.be-a-better-writer.com/cliches.html) that is worth looking over. Ready? I have shortened it from nearly 700 to 300 (click the link for the full list):
cliché list:
- A
- a chip off the old block
- a clean slate
- a dark and stormy night
- a far cry
- a fine kettle of fish
- a loose cannon
- a penny saved is a penny earned
- a tough row to hoe
- ace in the hole
- add insult to injury
- afraid of his own shadow
- against all odds
- air your dirty laundry
- all fun and games
- all your eggs in one basket
- all's fair in love and war
- all's well that ends well
- almighty dollar
- American as apple pie
- an axe to grind
- as the crow flies
- at my wits end
- avoid like the plague
B
- babe in the woods
- back against the wall
- back in the saddle
- back to square one
- back to the drawing board
- bat out of hell
- be all and end all
- beat a dead horse
- beat around the bush
- bee in her bonnet
- been there, done that
- beggars can't be choosers
- behind the eight ball
- bend over backwards
- benefit of the doubt
- bent out of shape
- best thing since sliced bread
- bet your bottom dollar
- better half
- better late than never
- better mousetrap
- better safe than sorry
- between a rock and a hard place
- beyond the pale
- bide your time
- big as life
- big fish in a small pond
- big cheese
- big man on campus
- bigger they are the harder they fall
- bird in the hand
- birds and the bees
- bird's eye view
- birds of a feather flock together
- bite the bullet
- bite the dust
- bit the hand that feeds you
- bitten off more than he can chew
- black as coal
- bleeding heart
- blessing in disguise
- blind ambition
- blind as a bat
- blind leading the blind
- blood is thicker than water
- blood sweat and tears
- blow off steam
- blow your own horn
- brings home the bacon
- broad across the beam
- broken record
- bull by the horns
- bull in a china shop
- burn the midnight oil
- burning the candle at both ends
- bury the hatchet
- busy as a bee
- by hook or by crook
C
- call a spade a spade
- called onto the carpet
- calm before the storm
- can of worms
- cat got your tongue
- caught red-handed
- caught with his/her pants down
- checkered past
- chip on his/her shoulder
- chomping at the bit
- clear as mud
- close to the vest
- cock and bull story
- cold shoulder
- come hell or high water
- cost a king's ransom
- cost/paid an arm and a leg
- curiosity killed the cat
- cut and dried
- cut through the red tape
- cut to the chase
D
- dark before the dawn
- day in, day out
- dead as a doornail
- devil is in the details
- dime a dozen
- don't count your chickens before they're hatched
- don't look a gift horse in the mouth
- don't rock the boat
- don't step on anyone's toes
- draw the line
- dressed to kill
- dressed to the nines
- drives me up the wall
E
- eagle eye
- easy as pie
- eat your heart out
- eat your words
- eleventh hour
- even the playing field
- every dog has its day
- every fiber of my being
- everything but the kitchen sink
- eye for an eye
F
- facts of life
- fair weather friend
- fan the flames
- fifteen minutes of fame
- fish out of water
- fishing for a compliment
- fit as a fiddle
- fit the bill
- fit to be tied
- force of nature
- force to be reckoned with
- fox in the henhouse
G
- get a leg up
- get down and dirty
- get your feet wet
- gets my goat
- gilding the lily
- give and take
- go against the grain
- go for broke
- goes without saying
- green thumb
- grist for the mill
H
- hair of the dog
- hand to mouth
- head honcho
- hear a pin drop
- heard it through the grapevine
- hit paydirt
- hold your horses
- horse of a different color
- hot under the collar
I
- icing on the cake
- if the shoe fits
- if the shoe were on the other foot
- in a nutshell
- in a pig's eye
- in a pinch
- in hot water
- it ain't over till the fat lady sings
- it goes without saying
- ivory tower
J
- Jack of all trades
- Johnny-come-lately
- joined at the hip
- judge a book by its cover
- jump on the bandwagon
- jump the gun
K
- keep a stiff upper lip
- kick the bucket
- kick up your heels
- kill two birds with one stone
- kick his lights out
- knock on wood
- knock your socks off
- know him from Adam
- know the ropesL
- labor of love
- land on your feet
- lap of luxury
- last hurrah
- let sleeping dogs lie
- let the cat out of the bag
- let the good times roll
- let your hair down
- light at the end of the tunnel
- like taking candy from a baby
- like there's no tomorrow
- lion's share
- look what the cat dragged in
- loose cannon
- low man on the totem pole
- luck of the Irish
M
- make hay while the sun shines
- make money hand over fist
- missed the boat on that one
- moment in the sun
- more than one way to skin a cat
- movers and shakers
N
- naked as a jaybird
- needless to say
- nip it in the bud
- no stone unturned
- not playing with a full deck
- not written in stone
- nothing to sneeze at
O
- off the top of my head
- off the wagon
- on cloud nine
- on his/her high horse
- on pins and needles
- on the bandwagon
- on the money
- on thin ice
- once bitten, twice shy
- one bad apple doesn't spoil the bushel
- open a can of worms
- open the flood gates
- opportunity doesn't knock twice
- over the hump
- over a barrel
P
- pain and suffering
- panic button
- par for the course
- pass the buck
- pay through the nose
- penny pincher
- play your cards right
- playing the field
- pot calling the kettle black
- pull a fast one
- pulling your leg
Q
- quick as a wink
R
- rags to riches
- raining buckets
- raining cats and dogs
- rob Peter to pay Paul
- roll over in the grave
- rub the wrong way
S
- salt of the earth
- scared out of his/her wits
- scared stiff
- sharp as a tack
- shoot the breeze
- shoot for the moon
- shot in the dark
- shoulder to the wheel
- sick as a dog
- six of one, half a dozen of another
- skating on thin ice
- slept like a log
- slinging mud
- sow wild oats
- stands out like a sore thumb
- squeaky wheel gets the grease
- start from scratch
- stick in the mud
- stuffed shirt
- sweating bullets
T
- take the bull by the horns
- take the plunge
- the real McCoy
- the red carpet treatment
- third time's the charm
- this day and age
- throw in the towel
- tongue-in-cheek
- too good to be true
- two cents worth
- two peas in a pod
U
- ugly as sin
- under his/her thumb
- under the gun
- until the cows come home
- uphill battle
- upper crust
- upset the applecart
V
- V for victory
W
- waiting for the other shoe to drop
- wakeup call
- watch your p's and q's
- watch your tongue
- water under the bridge
- wet behind the ears
- weed them out
- week of Sundays
- when push comes to shove
- when the going gets tough, the tough get going
- whole ball of wax
- whole nine yards
- wild goose chase
- work like a dog
- wrong side of the bed
Y
- yanking your chain
- you can run, but you can't hide
Thanks for bearing with me! My next post will be on noun/verb/pronoun disagreements. Stay tuned ...
