A COLLECTION OF CLICHES

Tip of the iceberg; Not out of the woods; In our corner of the woods; At this point in time; At the end of the day; Very unique; When all is said and done; Turn over a rock and find…; Waiting for the next shoe to drop; It’s water under the bridge; In the aftermath (wrong meaning); Sour grapes (wrong meaning); Leave no stone unturned; Black mark against him; I’m sick and tired; Swept under the rug; Roll up your sleeves: Skating on thin ice; Piece of cake; A walk in the park; It’s a long road; The bucket list; The reality is; Boots on the ground; One step at a time; The ball is in your court; Keep a close eye on it; Too much time on your hands; That’s a red flag; Gilding the lily (Shakespeare misquote); You know; Pause and take a deep breath; In the dead of the night; Turn over a new leaf; Over the hill; Hide his light under a basket; Let’s be honest; A silver lining; At the drop of a hat; Shine a light on them; A fly on the wall; Kudos (never one kudo); Turn over in his grave; Clear the decks; We won’t stand for it; Keep us on our toes; Good Samaritan (a bible misquote); To make ends meet; Let’s get the show on the road; An elephant in the room; Don’t cry over spilt milk; Chip on his shoulder; The shifting sands; Paint yourself into a corner; Bury the hatchet; Have your cake and eat it too; Going out on a limb; Move forward with a clean slate; Don’t sugar coat it; Hit the ground running; Come down on you like a ton of bricks; Clean up the mess; Reading between the lines; It is what it is; What goes around comes around; Taking your eye off the ball; Getting into a food fight; Get on board; In a New York minute; More to the story than meets the eye; Get to the bottom of it; Their lips are sealed; Take off the gloves; It changes over night; He cried wolf; At the end of the road; And so….(or alternately So….); Don’t bet the farm; Keep a lid on it; A ton of people; Fought tooth and nail; When you are in a hole you should stop digging; The fact of the matter; Shed light on it; There is a smoking gun; Walk away into the sunset; The big wildcard; Bent over backwards; Blew up in his (her) face; A chip off the old block; Written in stone; Gain the upper hand; Fire in the belly; Sticks out like a sore thumb; My way or the highway; It got under his skin; Mad as a wet hen; Taken with a grain of salt; Open up a can of worms; It’s on the radio screen; It rises to the occasion; Take the bull by the horns; Putting your finger on it; You can hang your hat on it. Do you know what this is? Of course you do! It is a collection of clichés. There are one hundred of them and I am sure you could come up with some more. These are utterances I have heard on TV. Some were even made by trained journalists who should know better. Many people who use these tired old expressions would be rendered mute or at least greatly reduced in verbosity if they were prohibited from using them. And for that we would benefit. An important question is what prompts people to use these clichés? I can only speculate that: (1.) They are not fully conscious of what they are saying. (2.) They lack awareness and imagination in expressing themselves. (3.) They are at a loss in finding other words to avoid using these worn out expressions. It is not that these expressions should never be used; it is similar to the greatly overuse of the adverb “very” in modifying various adjectives in making “very – etc.” practically a compound word. I have stated in the past that by emphasizing everything, then logically nothing gets emphasized. It simply should not be overdone. One never heard the likes of Bergen Evans, William F. Buckley, William Safire, and Charles Krauthammer use these clichés. Unfortunately they are all dead, therefore, except for Paula LaRocque, whose status is uncertain, I feel isolated and alone in guarding the gates of poorly spoken American English. Don’t despair for me, but at least understand that I am here to point out what should be, but apparently is not, obvious to most everyone. Arnell Engstrom