Not to Put Too Fine a Point on it
March 19, 2010
Now I’m going to take the bull by the horns because I have a burning issue to discuss. Which, it goes without saying, will remedy the situation.
If you’re perceptively sharp when you read that, you’ll have noticed it is replete with that old grammatical favourite, the cliché. How many did you count? Well, there’s actually four in there and, generally speaking, they should be avoided (like the plague! There’s another!).
One of the seven deadly sins for any young journalist is spewing forth a torrent of clichés in their writing. It betrays a journalist who is lazy (because they can’t be bothered looking for the right words) and somewhat lacking originality. Editors will spot it a mile off and, if they’re worth their salt, will press the delete button every time.
However, the war against clichés (which was in fact the title of a book by Martin Amis) is sometimes almost unwinnable and you find that you have to resort to them because they’re so apt to what you’re trying to say. In journalism, particularly on tabloid newspapers, the daily edition will be full of them, most likely, despite the watchfulness of the newsroom sub-editors. clichés such as ’spill the beans’ and ’labour of love’ are quite passable these days, but here are some you should cross the road to avoid:
- Paying the piper
- Up in arms
- Vanish in thin air
- Tongue in cheek
- Pillar of the church
- Open secret
- Never a dull moment
- Sons of the soil
- Sadder but wiser
There are countless others, of course, and I’ve no doubt your tutors will be making every effort to stamp them out of your articles and assignments. clichés are essentially overworked sayings and phrases that have lost their meaning and instead have become a simplistic way to imbue text with meaning. There are plenty of single overworked words, too, including:
- Infrastructure
- Huge
- Viable
- Options
- Personnel
- Currently
- Dramatic
If you can, avoid! It will free up your writing, and perhaps your brain power, for a more creative alternative.
Happy writing!
GARY
View tutor profile »
« Back to Articles Overview