Clich\u00e9s are to good writing as McDonald\u2019s is to fine dining. You don\u2019t need to shun them altogether; occasionally they have their place. But overall, like fast food, the job they do isn\u2019t worth the toll they take.<\/p>\n
But what\u2019s really so wrong with avoid like the plague<\/em>? You know exactly what it means when I say it, and besides, I might be on a deadline. Why should I fritter away precious time trying to come up with something fresh and inventive when there\u2019s this prefabricated, comfortably familiar turn of phrase available?<\/p>\n That\u2019s the lure and the curse of clich\u00e9s. They\u2019re easy and they work, yes, but by definition, they\u2019re tired and overused, even the new, trendy ones. They\u2019re the earmark of the hack writer.<\/p>\n The irony is that clich\u00e9s are victims of their own success. As trite and shopworn as they become, they were effective and brilliant when they were first coined. They flourish by expressing something universal in words and images that are memorable and original. There\u2019s no such thing as an ineffective clich\u00e9, or it\u2019s not really a clich\u00e9.<\/p>\n Clich\u00e9s sometimes start as clever punchlines. About fifteen years ago, for a period of several months, it was funny to hear someone reply to an outburst of brutal frankness by dryly remarking, \u201cSo, what do you really<\/em> think?\u201d But now when I hear this, even though it\u2019s still about as up-to-date as a clich\u00e9 can be, I get a wee pain.<\/p>\n Same with \u201cwait for it.\u201d It\u2019s become quite a favorite with the higher-brows among us. It signals the reader that something deliciously ironic or amusing or ridiculous is about to be revealed: \u201cSo they caught that sanctimonious Pastor Reynolds in a strip club last night, and he said he was just there to\u2014wait for it\u2014do some research.\u201d<\/p>\n In closing, I\u2019d like to try something either really instructive or really dumb\u2026<\/p>\n Clich\u00e9 Masterpiece Theater<\/strong> \u201cTell me what you really<\/em> think,\u201d I quipped. I was just jerking his chain since I didn\u2019t have a dog in this fight. But by the same token, you can\u2019t have it both ways. I knew I had to step up to the plate. \u201cDude,\u201d I intoned, \u201cthe long and the short of it is, anyone who thinks I\u2019m not on the same page is barking up the wrong tree. It boggles the mind and it\u2019s freaking me out. I won\u2019t take it lying down.\u201d<\/p>\n You have to get up pretty early in the morning to catch me using a clich\u00e9. So let\u2019s get the ball rolling. Let\u2019s get up to speed here. Let\u2019s take the gloves off. Let\u2019s pull out all the stops. Let\u2019s push the envelope. Let\u2019s circle the wagons and stop kicking the can down the road. We need to wrap our minds around this perfect storm and think outside the box. But, you kids: don\u2019t try this at home.<\/p>\n In the court of public opinion, clich\u00e9s are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they make your meaning clear as a bell; but on the other hand, long story short, in a heartbeat you\u2019re confronted by a bunch of strange bedfellows who are shocked, shocked! That doesn\u2019t pass the smell test.<\/p>\n Left to their own devices, these Einsteins seem to be having a field day with all their bells and whistles. They should give it a rest. They need to get over themselves, beyond a shadow of a doubt.<\/p>\n After all is said and done, this could have been a teachable moment\u2014but, nooo<\/em>! They had to turn it into a witch hunt.<\/p>\n Well, to them I say, \u201cRight back at ya!\u201d I\u2019m not trying to sell snake oil to these snakes in the grass\u2014these weasels who want to let the cat out of the bag, free as a bird. So in no way, shape, or form am I throwing in the towel. I\u2019m drawing a line in the sand. I\u2019ll fight this tooth and nail. When push comes to shove, I\u2019m not falling on my sword. I\u2019m not going from the frying pan into the fire. I\u2019m not taking the bait like some deer in the headlights. No way, Jos\u00e9. That would be D\u00e9j\u00e0 vu all over again.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been around the block, but even if you held my feet to the fire, I couldn\u2019t make people put their money where their mouth is\u2014that\u2019s above my pay grade.<\/p>\n Creature of habit? No, I\u2019m crazy like a fox. If they keep fanning the flames, they\u2019ll be dropping like flies. I refuse to be the poster child for being behind the eight ball when the chips are down.<\/p>\n Well, I think I\u2019ve run out the clock. It\u2019s time for the fat lady to sing. There\u2019s nothing more to say\u2014zero, zip, nada. I have to get out of Dodge.<\/p>\n This was a classic grammar tip from our late copy editor and word nerd Tom Stern.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Clich\u00e9s are to good writing as McDonald\u2019s is to fine dining. You don\u2019t need to shun them altogether; occasionally they have their place. But overall, like fast food, the job they do isn\u2019t worth the toll they take. But what\u2019s really so wrong with avoid like the plague? You know exactly what it means when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-effective-writing","category-humor"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMy friend said in no uncertain terms: \u201cLet\u2019s cut to the chase. It goes without saying clich\u00e9s are something you should kick to the curb, where the rubber meets the road. They stick out like a sore thumb. They spread like wildfire. If you want to be a good writer, don\u2019t go there or you\u2019ll be thrown under the bus. You\u2019ll have your name dragged through the mud. It\u2019s as plain as the nose on your face. That being said, at the end of the day, for all intents and purposes, the bottom line is that when you use them, all bets are off. It doesn\u2019t take a rocket scientist to figure that out; this isn\u2019t brain surgery. It is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n