“He wore his heart on
his sleeve.”
“The name was on the
tip of her tongue.”
“Her cheeks were like
roses.”
“The answer gave him
pause.”
Most
clichés start out as metaphors or similes—poetic comparisons of
one thing to another—and when they were first written, they helped
people see things in a different way. They created “aha!” moments
or painted vivid pictures.
For
example, the first person who described a person struggling to
remember something as having the answer on the tip of his or her
tongue was brilliant! I've had that experience; haven't you? You try to say an answer, and then you
realize that you haven't quite retrieved it from your
brain—so you reach for the answer again—there it is! you
think—but again it slips away! It's just like having something
RIGHT THERE, on the tip of your tongue, but you can't quite say it.
But
the phrase “on the tip of his/her tongue” was used by so many
people, over and over and over and over and over and over and over
and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and
over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over
and over and over and over and over and over and over again....
 |
| ...except for the fact that "like the plauge" IS a cliché! |
...that
now, if someone says it, everyone knows that it means that someone is
struggling to remember a name or word or answer...but it doesn't seem
fresh or interesting. It's trite, tired, overused. It has become a
cliché.
How
to avoid using clichés:
When
you write, really look at the phrases and metaphors and similes that
you have used. Did you write “as quick as a wink” or “as quick
as a cricket”? Did you say, “faster than a speeding bullet” or
“The car moved like greased lightning”?Those things have all been
said and written before (over and over and over and—you get the idea), so
substitute something else there. After all, there are plenty of quick
things in the universe! How about “as quick as a laser beam” or
“faster than a hunting cheetah”?
In
case you're confused...
A
simile is a comparison of one thing to another using the words “as”
or “like.” Examples of similes include “as quick as a wink”
and “cheeks like roses.”
A
metaphor is also a comparison—but it skips the words “as” and
“like.” If you said, “Roses bloomed in her cheeks,” it would
mean that her cheeks were pink and rosy—NOT that flowers were
actually growing inside, on, or out of her cheeks! If you wrote, “The kids
rocketed home to tell their news,” it means that they went home
super quickly (possibly on bicycles?)—NOT that they climbed onto a
rocket and blasted off to travel the three blocks to their house!
Also
on this date:
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