2 light at the end of the . . . . . .
3 weighed in the . . . . . . . and found wanting
4 quantum . . . .
5 paper over the . . . . . .
6 fall between two . . . . . .
7 blot on the . . . . . . . . .
8 if you’ve got it, . . . . . .it
9 the . . . . . not worth the candle
10 it’s not over till the fat lady . . . . .
Answers. 1. gods; 2. tunnel; 3. balance; 4. leap; 5. cracks; 6. stools; 7. landscape; 8. flaunt; 9. game’s; 10. sings
Most clichés begin life as someone’s incredibly neat, timely or witty way of expressing or emphasising a thought. Because it is clever, a lot of people steal the phrase as their own. Multiply that by a few million and you have the desperately tired and overused husk of somebody’s originality.
Many clichés are centuries old. If we say of a jilted bride-to-be that she was left in the lurch we are echoing a comment made by the English poet Gabriel Harvey in 1576. Thirty years earlier saw another writer, John Heywood, recognise that he knew what side his bread’s buttered on (1546). Clichés date from the Bible and more are minted, waiting in the wings (cliché) for clichédom, every day. These days a cliché can be born, adopted and be worn out in a matter of mere months.
The grammarian Eric Partridge identified four kinds of cliché. There is the idiom that becomes so indiscriminately used that its original meaning becomes lost (to the manner born has become to the manor born because of the widespread belief that it means born to wealth and luxury, whereas it originally meant ‘following an established custom, or accustomed to a situation’ as in Shakespeare’s Hamlet 4:14). His second type includes phrases that have become so hackneyed that only the laziest writers and speakers ever use them (to nip in the bud; beyond the pale; down to the last detail).
Partridge’s third group consists of foreign phrases (terra firma; in flagrante delicto; plus ça change) while his fourth comprises snippets and quotations from literature (a little knowledge is a dangerous thing from Pope, and Shakespeare’s a thing of beauty is a joy for ever).
However we haven’t yet rounded up all the usual suspects (cliché). One serial offender (very modern cliché) is the ‘stock modifier’ – a Darby and Joan (cliché) combination of words that, often for no reason, are always seen together. A person isn’t moved; he or she is visibly moved; a person isn’t merely courteous, he or she is unfailingly courteous. These parasitic partners are really sly clichés and you should watch for them. To help you know these partners better, try matching these:
| 1 | over-riding | A | consequences |
| 2 | woefully | B | apparent |
| 3 | far-reaching | C | inadequate |
| 4 | no-holds-barred | D | importance |
| 5 | increasingly | E | interview |
Answers: 1D; 2C; 3A; 4E; 5B
If you make up your mind to watch out for clichés creeping into your speech and writing and to try to avoid them you’ll be surprised how easy it becomes to do without them – and how much fresher your writing becomes as a result.
Here are a few you might remove from your vocabulary:
An A to Z of Clichés to Avoid like the Plague
accidentally on purpose
accident waiting to happen
actions speak louder than words
act of contrition
acid test
add insult to injury
after due consideration
all intents and purposes
all in the same boat
all over bar the shouting
all things considered
almost too good to be true
angel of mercy
angry silence (classic Darby & Joan)
as a matter of fact
as luck would have it
as sure as eggs is/are eggs
at the end of the day
at this moment/point in time
auspicious occasion
avid reader
baby with the bathwater, don’t throw out the
backseat driver
back to basics/to the drawing board
bag and baggage
bag of tricks
ballpark figure
ball’s in your court, the
bang your head against a brick wall
barking up the wrong tree
bat an eyelid (try wink and surprise everyone)
batten down the hatches
beavering away
beer and skittles, it’s not all
before you can say Jack Robinson
beggars can’t be choosers
be good (and if you can’t be good, be careful!)
be that as it may
between a rock and a hard place
bite the bullet
blessing in disguise
blind leading the blind
blissful ignorance
blood out of a stone, it’s like trying to get
bloody but unbowed
blow hot and cold
blot on the landscape
blow the whistle
blue rinse brigade
blushing bride
bone of