A cliche is a stale, commonplace, worn out word, phrase, or figure of speech that many speakers and writers fall into using out of hurry or sheer laziness

Lederer, Richard

Digital Commons @ Butler University

I aid in the 'st letters le when read lutions at the -E-­E, E--EE­EO­I - -A­-A - -AI­~ge ! 11 TRITE AS A CLICHE RICHARD LEDERER Concord, New Ham.pshire A cliche is a stale, commonplace, worn out word, phrase, or figure of speech that many speakers and writers fall into using out of hurry or sheer laziness. It is one of the ironies of language that vivid comparisons soon be­come cliches precisely because they initially express an idea so well. The se comparisons catch on I are picked up by many people, and quickly become trite and dead in the sense that they no longer strike us as origi­nal or clever. The prevailing triteness in modern writing led the Engl ish novelist and critic George Orwell (Animal Farm, 1984) to lament that II prose consists less and less of words chosen for the sake of their meaning, and more and more of phrases tacked together like the sections of a pre­fabr icated henhouse. II Take the hackneyed formula tl (adjective) as a (noun).'1 Offe r the fir st half of the phrase and instantly into the minds of almost eve rybody flashes the second half. If, for example, I say II dead as a ... , II most readers will say II doornail. tl In fact, this expression has been wheezed for more than 600 year s, back to at least 1350, when an anonymous poet, de scr ibing the hunting of a deer, wrote: And happened that I hitt hym be-hynde the left sholdire. Dead as a dornayle was he fallen. The very fact that the second half of such compar isons skips so eas­By into the mind is a danger sign. It means that everyone else would use the same simile J and this is exactly what make s for tritenes s. To prove my point, I present over one hundred" ... as a ... 11 cliches; see how many you can complete correctly. The first set is completed by insert­ing members of the animal kingdom: 1. blind as 8. cross as 15. happy as 2. brave as 9. drunk as 16. happy as 3. busy as 10. dumb as 17. healthy as 4. clean as 11. fat as 18. hungry as S. crazy as 12. free as 19. loose as 6. crazy as 13. gentle as 20. mad as 7. crazy as 14. hairy as 21. mad as 12 22. naked as 27. quiet as 23. nervous as 28. sick as 24. plump as 29. silly as 25. poo r as 30. slippery as 26. proud as 3l. sly as Complete the following by using type s of food: 37. American as 42. nutty as 38. brown as 43. pleased as 39. cool as 44. red as 40. ea-sy as 45. red as 41. flat as 46. slow as 32. snug as 33. strong as 34. strong as 35. stubborn as 36. wise as 47. soft as 48. sweet as 49. warm as 50. wrinkled as Complete the following by using objects often found in the house or associated with houses: 51. bald as 58. hard as 65. sharp as 52. big as 59. high as 66. smooth as 53. black as 60. limp as 67. soft as 54. cute as 61. neat as 68. stiff as 55. dead as 62. pretty as 69. tight as 56. deaf as 63. rough as 70. tough as 57. dull as 64. safe as 71. white as Complete the following by using things found in nature: 72. cold as 77. fresh as 82. old as 73. dryas 78. good as 83. pure as 74. dryas 79. hard as 84. right as 75. easy as 80. hot as 85. solid as 76. fast as 81. light as Now, for a change in approach, fill in the beginning of each cliche by inserting the appropriately hackneyed adjective: 86. as an ar row 87. as a bell 88. as a bell 89. as Croesus 90. as day 91. as the day is long 92. as the day you were born 93. as a dollar 94. as a drum 95. as a fiddle 96. as a ghost 97. as a hatter 98. as a judge 99. as life 100. as a lord 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 110. Ill. 112. 113. 114. as Methuselah as a new- born babe as a new penny as night as a pistol as a rail as shootin I as sin as thieves as a as a as a as a as a tomb two- dollar bill whip whistle wink FALAL EDWARD Brookline Honoh Nassau, 'I 'I I'm HawaiL ' 11 I can their crafl ESE, seSE ,. live a bear in 1 a! So- so herd and 'i\ miles fran each time. 11 Coulc II 11 m e ( 1 t went, ) St, , St. St, in Orono, I Albany, m orado, to E Coco Co. ( II II d 1 c formance 0 11 Ta-ta 

Trite as a Cliche

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Trite as a Cliche

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