Clichés are sensitive creatures, and are best left alone to fend for themselves. Picking them up and putting them into your blogs does them no good at all. Over-use (or in some cases any use) can do them, and your prose, serious harm. Just say no to clichés, particularly the following, which are in grave danger of over-exposure. For the sake of clarity, I have suggested some alternatives.
- It's not rocket science (It's simple)
- Thinking outside the box (Being creative)
- Tastes like chicken (Can't describe the taste)
- It's a no-brainer (It's obvious)
- If you can dream it you can be it (Actually you can't, so this is a lie as well as a cliché)
- A bad day at the office (A bad day)
- It's a marathon, not a sprint (It takes a long time)
- Change is the only constant (More nonsense. Sometimes things stay the same for ages)
- Young and old alike (this adds no meaning at all, so may be dispensed with altogether)
So please be an enlightened blogger and leave the poor clichés alone.
Thank you.
1 comment:
Hi Alan
You're so right: thankyou for this 'just say no' advice. And I think I could add a few more:
- One stop shop (we meet all your needs)
- Level playing field (everything's equal)
- Cutting edge (innovative)
- Future proof (will survive future developments ... if only we knew what they'll be!)
- Paradigm shift (adjust your thinking to new ideas)
- Left of field
- I'm really pleased you asked me that (no I'm not)
And perhaps the most common of them all:
- At the end of the day (dusk? midnight?)
Rob
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