When writing newsletters and magazine articles I often enjoy incorporating a phrase or two learned at grandma's knee (like that one). Some call them tired and irrelevant in today's world. It apparently has been determined by the furtive Guardians of Grammar and Good Writing that clichés are, well ... cliché. Old hat. No longer an item. Passé. Nevermind that they lived for decades or even centuries, feeling beloved and quite at home in newsprint and prose. We are no longer supposed to be "tinkled pink," "tough as nails," or do anything "like there is no tomorrow." Pity.
However, I tend to feel that many so-called Purveyors of Perfect Prose have no clue how to use tried-n-true clichés, mistaking them for fast-fading phraseology fads. I believe that applied in fresh context, like treasured antiques sprinkled sparingly amidst your modern furnishings, they can live quite charmingly another era or two. However, it's important to use them properly. Clichés and adages can cause curious problems for a writer.
Sometimes click-clacking along, we throw in what we think is a terrific line. If you want to appeal to a mass market, it is not your era’s terminology, however witty and appropriate it may be, that you need to consider when you borrow oft-said phrases—it is that of your reader. For whom are you writing?
“My-bad” and Homer Simpson’s “duh-oh!” are soon-to-be (if not already) passing fads. As were “groovy,” “who’s your daddy,” and “sit on it!” Great fun, but ... they will definitely date your work. Yes, there are some tired old clichés that simply "don’t hold water" anymore and probably never did. Is your character “up at the crack of dawn”? Is there a crack where the sun dawns? Perhaps in this case, it's time to replace with something like, “Her eyes squinted open at the first bright rays of the morning sun.” However, when explaining the lack of understanding a scientific math equation, “as clear as mud” gives a great visual, doesn’t it? Hard to improve on that one.
In other words (see, we really can’t get away from them), use your common sense. Does the cliché truly lend anything to your work, or does it date your thinking like “the best thing since sliced bread.” Try to keep it “fresh as a daisy,” at least within the last century.
Do you know the difference between a cliché and an adage? I love adages and expressive, timeless clichés—often silently thanking those who first uttered the phrases so that I might use them when I cannot possibly improve upon them! Some clichés can actually become adages simply by hanging around long enough, providing they apply to current times and don't crease with the unsightly wrinkles of Father Time. Fad phrases are fun too, when they’re new and have their place in current articles and appropriately, in period works. But moreso than fad phrases, clichés and adages need special care, as using them too frequently and/or improperly can get you into editorial trouble. An adage is an “old” saying, by the way. So some editors really rankle at a redundant reference to an “old adage.”
The dictionary definitions:
Adage – proverb or short statement expressing a general truth.
Cliché – phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.
Fad – intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, esp. one that is short-lived; a craze (apply that to words, as well).
Always writing,
LinDee Rochelle
Copyright, L. Rochelle, March 25, 2007
