I love them and unlove them--clichés.
Just so you don't misunderstand what I'm talking about, let me define cliché, but only after I share a few I remembered as I washed laundry, tidied a closet, fixed lunch, etc. as I planned this post. After I jog your memory, recognizing clichés will be as easy as pie.
- Fit as a fiddle
- Tougher than nails
- Squeal like a pig
- Lost his marbles
- Down in the dumps
- A heart of gold
- Out of the frying pan and into the fire
- A diamond in the rough
- Neat as a pin
- Walk in the park
- Pushing up daisies
- Sing a different tune
- Over the hill
- When my ship comes in
- Scared out of her wits
- Beat around the bush
- Like death warmed over
- Spin a yarn
- When nature calls
- Had me in stitches
- Faster than the speed of light
- Sail off into the sunset
- Made out of money
- Cat got your tongue
- Laughed my head off
- Laughed all the way to the bank
- Rough around the edges
- They lived happily ever after
cliché = a phrase used over and over until it has a common meaning that is easily recognized and understood by most people. Usually they originated from a phrase that was new, fresh, clever and descriptive which added insight in a deeper, or funnier, or more interesting way. Being used until well known, they soon grow stale. Most writing experts refer to them as trite, boring and deadly.
Skimming my list you quickly realized their visceral impact. No one can actually be as lucky as a duck or as happy as a lark, but it paints an intriguing picture--the person perched on a twig swaying in the breeze and chirping their little heart out in joy, or a duck doing whatever it takes for a duck to be lucky! (Um, I have no clue what that would be!) My grandpa admired storytelling and could recall and share tales in a way that had me sitting on the edge of my chair listening for hours. I saw and felt what he said because of how he said it. Some stories I'll never forget, or the way he'd pause to laugh with us, or lean forward to draw us closer. Cliches never started out weary, they had life and vitality and were creative like my grandpa. When first used, clichés were creative ways to inspire glued to the spot type listening like your life depended upon it.
Some cliche's may remain alive and kicking forever. We'll use them--those three or four word phrases--to say a thousand words or conjure up a hundred images. They'll keep our lives simple and succinct, and perhaps less uncomplicated and better understood.
For example, have I ever been scared half to death? Possibly, but I'm not sure. I have been frozen in place. Literally. Between a snowmobile and a buffalo. I stared death in the face, or maybe that was just the buffalo. No matter which, I'm certain I wasn't half dead. There was too much heart-pumping fear going on and thinking I'd die, and how painful it could be, and wondering how they'd get my broken body out from under those hooves.
Even though we seem to have heard the same cliches a million times, it doesn't mean we understand them. As a kid I asked about pitch. I'd only heard of musical pitch--my dad and mom both sang in the church choir, my sister and brother were learning how to play the piano, and my dad tuned his guitar. Confused, I wondered how middle C and treble notes equaled blackness. Was scary music as black as pitch? A a youngster how was I to know anything about an oozing tar-like resin distilled from trees? That blackness was a sticky, clingy, can't see through it or past it substance that incited fear, which denotes a deeper meaning than a visual black color. See why cliches are so popular? It takes fewer words to say something and allows the reader or listener to assign a personal level of power and meaning that is impossible for the speaker or writer to convey.
What about pie? My first pie looked terrible. It tasted one inch this side of heaven, but it was not easy to look at, easy to make, or easy to serve with a smile.
Although cliche's seem to be commonly understood, obviously they have limitations, besides being overused until we want to curl up and die when we hear or read them yet again. Brainless repetition bores us to death.
I once had a neighbor who loved clichés so much that her speech
was littered with them to the point that if I didn’t carefully listen, I’d have
no clue what she said. And then one day it happened—she totally lost me. One cliché melded into the next and I had no idea when one ended
and the next began. I didn’t share her background or know all of her clichés so it sounded like she was speaking disconnected words without pauses or periods. It equaled a giant language barrier. I took Spanish in high school. When I
visited Italy I was able to navigate the language barrier rather well, much to my delight. Listening to her was like trying to use my poor Spanish abilities to understand Chinese. I felt like crying out, "stop beating around the bush and say it like it is!" I held my piece (or is that I held my peace?) and left totally clueless.
Background and exposure determine whether a cliche is understandable, although some have been around so long and are so uniformly understood that no one knows where or how the cliché began. When I had hens they sometimes got wet in a sudden downpour if they didn't run fast enough into their coop. But I never saw one acting mad. It's hard for me to visualize, but it must be memorable! And pushing up daisies? Yuck! I don't enjoy visualizing a bony hand six feet under planting a flower patch from underneath (after breaking through their coffin...). My kids have given me funny looks after I've spouted a cliché they didn't understand. Huh? What is mom saying?
I see four problems with cliche's: 1.) Some need interpreting. 2.) Some sound absolutely stupid and beg for originality. 3.) Some don't match what you're intending to say. 4.) Some muddy up the water, instead of offer insight.
Why this post? A few days ago I needed to point someone out to someone. I wondered how I'd describe the person. Oh this should be easy, I thought to myself. After all, I define and describe characters for my novels all the time. I'm proficient at this.
Later, as I shoveled snow with no one watching, especially my husband and son who would get madder than two old wet hens if they saw me, I mentally played with clichés for describing a character and discovered I'm well versed in them. It was disappointing until I challenged myself to rework descriptions. Shoveling in freezing rain turned into a lot of analyzing of cliches and my characters. I had tons of mental fun. Someday, in one of my books, possibly the one I'm working on now, instead of using clichés I'm going to use this description for one of my characters:
He looked like he'd eaten a dozen lemons
when he should have chosen prunes.
I already know who will get the honor. It's someone I've mentioned but haven't fully introduced yet. I've been picking him apart for a while now, and the above fits him to a tea.
Will I personally give up cliches? Not on your life! Unlike some critics, I believe they have a time and place. We need them. We will continually create them. They are language links. They produce movement and change. They provide constancy and familiarity. They are a distinct voice. Happy are they who create them, whether accidentally or intentionally. Yup, clichés are here to stay.
One of my Grands sleepin' like a baby...
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