TECH: Not more cliches!

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

according to the Writer's Digest, July 2004, page 17, the Plain English Campaign recommends using plain, understandable language. They took a poll for the most annoying phrases in English. The results include:

24/7
ballpark figure
bottom line
it's not rocket science
move the goalposts
push the envelope
touch base
between a rock and a hard place
is the glass half full or half empty
address the issue
bear with me
going forward
literally
ongoing
think outside the box

Their 6000 members voted for the most grating cliches as:

4. With all due respect
3. Like (used as a form of punctuation)
2. at this moment in time

and the most grating cliche was (drum roll, please? And flashing spotlights?)

1. At the end of the day

The Plain English Campaign has a website at http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/ it doesn't look as if they have repeated their survey, but it's still an interesting example.

EXERCISE: Getting Rid of Cliches

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

(heck, I think you're already playing this game - still, here it is in exercise format :-)

A quick and quirky exercise from Writer's Digest. July 2004, page 17 suggests writing a short piece and trying to cram as many cliches as possible into it. They provide a bloated parody of an inspirational piece as an example, but you can clearly do it anyway that you like. You could decide to write a 500 word review, loaded to the brim with cliches, overused metaphors, and other purple prose? Or perhaps just a personal reflection on the beauty of nose hairs, or some such delight? But lay on the cliches as thick as the lard filled sugar frosting on the wedding cake. Heap them high as the mountains, as far as the eye can see, and as thick as . . . as thick as molasses?

Oh, yes, once you've overused your cliches, the notion is that you might resist their use in the future. So don't get attached to those cliches!

here is their example:

Vocabulary-challenged writers often feel trapped between a rock and a hard place. How can you write more exciting sentences without actually learning new words? Fear not -- even if your sentences aren't exactly pushing the linguistic envelope, don't assume that, talent-wise, your glass is half-empty. You just need to think outside the box -- literally. Take a walk, see a movie, test-drive a Porsche; do anything that will get the blood flowing again. And remember, at the end of the day, the bottom line's still the same: writing isn't rocket science. Bear with it.

Go ahead, you can beat that with a stick, can't you?

The cliches have it!