In praise of the cliché

At the end of the day, sometimes you’ve just got to think inside the box

by Hephzibah Anderson / November 14, 2012 / Leave a comment
Published in December 2012 issue of Prospect Magazine

Blue-sky thinking: banality or ancient wisdom? (photo: images.com/Corbis)

In the past week, I have taken a rain check, stared down the elephant in the room, and been my own worst enemy in more ways than one.

I am not proud. As Nigel Fountain, author of a new book Clichés: Avoid Them Like the Plague (Michael O’Mara), would tell me, I am guilty of repetition, banality and confirmation of the expected.

In my defence, it’s been a week of extremes. Or do I mean two halves? It began in New York City just in time for Hurricane Sandy and ended with a very, very long train ride down to Florida to meet Bubbles, Michael Jackson’s chimpanzee companion of the 1980s. Midway through, I found myself on a late night call with a writer friend. He was taking things a day at a time, I was going back to the drawing board. Then we heard ourselves. Did it make us only more clichéd that we were fretting so much about using them? Are there some clichés that are simply unavoidable?

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Comments

owen
November 21, 2012 at 03:17
wow - cut to the chase- now i know its origin-i thought chase was the inside of some kind of vegetable...
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tedrey
November 21, 2012 at 13:35
"Inside the box" may be good enough for the flotsam of daily conversation, but if one wishes to be a real writer, scientist, imparter or seeker for truth, one will avoid a cliche' like . . . a lie!
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Brian Heller
November 21, 2012 at 15:48
I'm 65 but don't recall "LOL" being '60s shorthand for Little Old Lady. I do recall, vividly, its meaning "Lots o' Luck". Well, I guess I can either Like it Or Lump it.
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Don Mac Brown
November 21, 2012 at 16:16
Is "define your terms" a cliche? I am still working on defining "bottom line" and "zero-sum game".
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swamp thing
November 22, 2012 at 02:17
That was so thought-provoking on many levels. I guess the takeaway is, don't forget the oldies-but-goldies.
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keta
November 22, 2012 at 19:58
Incredibly, you've written a short piece on cliches without even mentioning the rich nautical history inherent in same. What, were you three sheets to the wind?
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tedrey
November 23, 2012 at 13:25
Pride goeth, etc. I must modify my position, having already found it necessary to use a cliche' myself. Inviting a veterinary acquaintance to visit me, I urged that she would then be able to pat my cats, and then just HAD to add that of course, for her, that might only be "a busman's holiday". I shall have to reconsider my opposition to cliche's.
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guyofgisborne
November 26, 2012 at 13:38
Hephzibah Anderson hits the nail on the head. While some clichés do indeed encapsulate wisdom, the unthinking and repeated use of them is tedious. As far as "at the end of the day" is concerned: my personal distaste for the phrase goes back to its use by the Ministry of Defence spokesman Ian MacDonald, a man still remembered for his monotonous delivery of the latest official news from the Falklands in 1982, and for his infuriating repetion of the words "at the end of the day". Kevin Carpenter
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Fred
November 28, 2012 at 22:27
Not only cliches are ovefused, but such divine words as ubiquitous, iconic, and amazing. Even National Public Radio reporters use the first two to excess. But the third? Well, who doesn't say it would be a much shorter list. To show just how tedious this usage is, I love the observation of Joy Behar one cay on THE VIEW: Your dress and Einstein's theory of relativity are AMAZING!
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Steffen Silvis
December 1, 2012 at 20:12
"Catles in Spain" is in need of revival. I'm also fond of the old American term for someone departing for travel or adventures as being "off to see the elephant." What a wonderful topic, missing only a mention of John Heywood who, after all, gave us: Haste maketh waste. (1546) Out of sight out of mind. (1542) Look ere ye leap. (1546) Two heads are better than one. (1546) Beggars should be no choosers. (1546) All is well that ends well. (1546) The fat is in the fire. (1546) I know on which side my bread is buttered. (1546) One good turn asketh another. (1546) A penny for your thought. (1546) Rome was not built in one day. (1546) Better late than never. (1546) The more the merrier. (1546) You cannot see the wood for the trees. (1546) This hitteth the nail on the head. (1546) No man ought to look a given horse in the mouth. (1546) Wolde ye bothe eate your cake and haue your cake? (1562)
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beejeez
December 1, 2012 at 20:54
What do you mean “At the end of the day” and “All things being equal” are meaningless phrases? The first has always meant "when all minor distractions about what has transpired are put in perspective." And "All things being equal," understood to mean "All other things being equal," establishes that the listener is to consider only the factor about to be described as critical to understanding the subject. Both seem to be useful phrases to me. You want a really annoying cliche? "It is what it is."
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Geof
December 2, 2012 at 18:38
I don't really see what's wrong with "all things being equal." It goes back to the Latin "ceterus paribus" and succinctly explains what would require many words to avoid--namely that this decision is highly dependent on other factors that could change the outcome.
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Badcrumble
December 2, 2012 at 19:30
A more recent and annoying ' not fit for purpose...' regularly rolled out by lazy politicians...
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Damyon Verbo
December 27, 2012 at 19:56
I don't like hearing the following, "Have a nice day" and "No problem" Cliches are too easy and don't take much thought. My skin crawls when I hear "Have a nice day" thirty years after it took the US by storm. "No problem" should be thank you.
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John
December 27, 2012 at 20:37
Let me put a stake in the sand and say I particularly like cliches when they are mixed. See my collection on Twitter @ClichesGoneWild
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Ed Benevides
December 28, 2012 at 18:11
People use so many awful cliches that really don't add anything to a discussion but gives them some comfort. I enjoy having conversations in which people can express themselves without having to resort to some awful cliche unless that cliche expresses a shorthand version of a thought that is well understood. The cliche that I hate is "it is what it is" because it is usually repetitive of the obvious.
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