Let’s Take the Bull by the Horns
May 21, 2010
A couple of months ago I wrote about clichés you should avoid ‘like the plague’ in your writing. Well, a journalist who has been researching this topic for nine years has just revealed his findings – and they’re not totally surprising.
Chris Pash says that the phrase ‘at the end of the day’ is the most ‘all-pervasive’ cliché in use in newspapers and websites around the world. He also found that, in travel writing, a subject that is susceptible to some of the worst clichés of all, journalists too frequently favoured ‘paradise’, ‘must-see’ and ‘best-kept secret’. I would add to that the over-use of ‘palm-fringed’ and ‘nestled’.
Pash also made special mention of hoary old favourites such as ‘last-ditch effort’ and ‘concerned residents’. While admitting that some clichés were aptly descriptive and truthful, he said he gets more annoyed by corporate speak, which, if you are a business writer, you should try to avoid using. ‘Downsizing’, for example, is just another word for saying someone’s been sacked. Here are the seven most overused clichés that he came across during his research.
- At the end of the day
- Split second
- About face
- Unsung heroes
- Outpouring of support
- Last-ditch effort
- Concerned residents
Most of these are easy to avoid, it just requires a little thinking outside the square. I have mentioned some of the others to steer clear of in previous blogs but there are so many, here’s a few more for the list!
- Storm of protest
- Gory details
- Foregone conclusion
- Part and parcel
- Over and above
- Matter of life and death
- Calm before the storm
If you want to forge an original identity as a writer, you’ll need to eradicate the use of clichés such as these, though all journalists know that, sometimes, they’re impossible to avoid.
Just a reminder now: are you revving up your laptop/picking up your pencil and notebook/inking your quill and unfolding your parchment and writing every day like I’ve been advising? I hope so, because at the end of the day (whoops!) practice, while it doesn’t necessarily make perfect, will help you rise above the ordinary in your work.
Happy writing!
GARY
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