We're back with more tips to help make you a better writer or editor.

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


1. a chip off the old block
2. a clean slate
3. a dark and stormy night
4. a far cry
5. a fine kettle of fish
6. a loose cannon
7. a penny saved is a penny earned
8. a tough row to hoe
9. ace in the hole
10. add insult to injury
11. afraid of his own shadow
12. against all odds
13. air your dirty laundry
14. all fun and games
15. all your eggs in one basket
16. all's fair in love and war
17. all's well that ends well
18. almighty dollar
19. American as apple pie
20. an axe to grind
21. as the crow flies
22. at my wits end
23. avoid like the plague 
    B
    
24. babe in the woods
25. back against the wall
26. back in the saddle
27. back to square one
28. back to the drawing board
29. bat out of hell
30. be all and end all
31. beat a dead horse
32. beat around the bush
33. bee in her bonnet
34. been there, done that
35. beggars can't be choosers
36. behind the eight ball
37. bend over backwards
38. benefit of the doubt
39. bent out of shape
40. best thing since sliced bread
41. bet your bottom dollar
42. better half
43. better late than never
44. better mousetrap
45. better safe than sorry
46. between a rock and a hard place
47. beyond the pale
48. bide your time
49. big as life
50. big fish in a small pond
51. big cheese
52. big man on campus
53. bigger they are the harder they fall
54. bird in the hand
55. birds and the bees
56. bird's eye view
57. birds of a feather flock together
58. bite the bullet
59. bite the dust
60. bit the hand that feeds you
61. bitten off more than he can chew
62. black as coal
63. bleeding heart
64. blessing in disguise
65. blind ambition
66. blind as a bat
67. blind leading the blind
68. blood is thicker than water
69. blood sweat and tears
70. blow off steam
71. blow your own horn
72. brings home the bacon
73. broad across the beam
74. broken record
75. bull by the horns
76. bull in a china shop
77. burn the midnight oil
78. burning the candle at both ends
79. bury the hatchet
80. busy as a bee
81. by hook or by crook
    C
    
82. call a spade a spade
83. called onto the carpet
84. calm before the storm
85. can of worms
86. cat got your tongue
87. caught red-handed
88. caught with his/her pants down
89. checkered past
90. chip on his/her shoulder
91. chomping at the bit
92. clear as mud
93. close to the vest
94. cock and bull story
95. cold shoulder
96. come hell or high water
97. cost a king's ransom
98. cost/paid an arm and a leg
99. curiosity killed the cat
100. cut and dried
101. cut through the red tape
102. cut to the chase
     D
     
103. dark before the dawn
104. day in, day out
105. dead as a doornail
106. devil is in the details
107. dime a dozen
108. don't count your chickens before they're hatched
109. don't look a gift horse in the mouth
110. don't rock the boat
111. don't step on anyone's toes
112. draw the line
113. dressed to kill
114. dressed to the nines
115. drives me up the wall
     E
     
116. eagle eye
117. easy as pie
118. eat your heart out
119. eat your words
120. eleventh hour
121. even the playing field
122. every dog has its day
123. every fiber of my being
124. everything but the kitchen sink
125. eye for an eye
     F
     
126. facts of life
127. fair weather friend
128. fan the flames
129. fifteen minutes of fame
130. fish out of water
131. fishing for a compliment
132. fit as a fiddle
133. fit the bill
134. fit to be tied
135. force of nature
136. force to be reckoned with
137. fox in the henhouse
     G
     
138. get a leg up
139. get down and dirty
140. get your feet wet
141. gets my goat
142. gilding the lily
143. give and take
144. go against the grain
145. go for broke
146. goes without saying
147. green thumb
148. grist for the mill
     H
     
149. hair of the dog
150. hand to mouth
151. head honcho
152. hear a pin drop
153. heard it through the grapevine
154. hit paydirt
155. hold your horses
156. horse of a different color
157. hot under the collar
     I
     
158. icing on the cake
159. if the shoe fits
160. if the shoe were on the other foot
161. in a nutshell
162. in a pig's eye
163. in a pinch
164. in hot water
165. it ain't over till the fat lady sings
166. it goes without saying
167. ivory tower
     J
     
168. Jack of all trades
169. Johnny-come-lately
170. joined at the hip
171. judge a book by its cover
172. jump on the bandwagon
173. jump the gun
     K
     
174. keep a stiff upper lip
175. kick the bucket
176. kick up your heels
177. kill two birds with one stone
178. kick his lights out
179. knock on wood
180. knock your socks off
181. know him from Adam
182. know the ropes
     
     L
     
183. labor of love
184. land on your feet
185. lap of luxury
186. last hurrah
187. let sleeping dogs lie
188. let the cat out of the bag
189. let the good times roll
190. let your hair down
191. light at the end of the tunnel
192. like taking candy from a baby
193. like there's no tomorrow
194. lion's share
195. look what the cat dragged in
196. loose cannon
197. low man on the totem pole
198. luck of the Irish
     M
     
199. make hay while the sun shines
200. make money hand over fist
201. missed the boat on that one
202. moment in the sun
203. more than one way to skin a cat
204. movers and shakers
     N
     
205. naked as a jaybird
206. needless to say
207. nip it in the bud
208. no stone unturned
209. not playing with a full deck
210. not written in stone
211. nothing to sneeze at
     O
     
212. off the top of my head
213. off the wagon
214. on cloud nine
215. on his/her high horse
216. on pins and needles
217. on the bandwagon
218. on the money
219. on thin ice
220. once bitten, twice shy
221. one bad apple doesn't spoil the bushel
222. open a can of worms
223. open the flood gates
224. opportunity doesn't knock twice
225. over the hump
226. over a barrel
     P
     
227. pain and suffering
228. panic button
229. par for the course
230. pass the buck
231. pay through the nose
232. penny pincher
233. play your cards right
234. playing the field
235. pot calling the kettle black
236. pull a fast one
237. pulling your leg
     Q
     
238. quick as a wink
     R
     
239. rags to riches
240. raining buckets
241. raining cats and dogs
242. rob Peter to pay Paul
243. roll over in the grave
244. rub the wrong way
     S
     
245. salt of the earth
246. scared out of his/her wits
247. scared stiff
248. sharp as a tack
249. shoot the breeze
250. shoot for the moon
251. shot in the dark
252. shoulder to the wheel
253. sick as a dog
254. six of one, half a dozen of another
255. skating on thin ice
256. slept like a log
257. slinging mud
258. sow wild oats
259. stands out like a sore thumb
260. squeaky wheel gets the grease
261. start from scratch
262. stick in the mud
263. stuffed shirt
264. sweating bullets
     T
     
265. take the bull by the horns
266. take the plunge
267. the real McCoy
268. the red carpet treatment
269. third time's the charm
270. this day and age
271. throw in the towel
272. tongue-in-cheek
273. too good to be true
274. two cents worth
275. two peas in a pod
     U
     
276. ugly as sin
277. under his/her thumb
278. under the gun
279. until the cows come home
280. uphill battle
281. upper crust
282. upset the applecart
     V
     
283. V for victory
     W
     
284. waiting for the other shoe to drop
285. wakeup call
286. watch your p's and q's
287. watch your tongue
288. water under the bridge
289. wet behind the ears
290. weed them out
291. week of Sundays
292. when push comes to shove
293. when the going gets tough, the tough get going
294. whole ball of wax
295. whole nine yards
296. wild goose chase
297. work like a dog
298. wrong side of the bed
     Y
     
299. yanking your chain
300. 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 ...