Clichés are everywhere. But I shall leave no stone unturned and explore every avenue to track them to their lair and nip them in the bud. There are movie clichés, plot clichés and metaphor clichés like the ones I've just used. (Yes, most clichés are metaphors, and most metaphors are clichés – more of that later.) And then there are verbal clichés: words that are so over-used I wish they could all be retired – like these:
acrimonious, amicable Only applied to divorces, which are always either one or the other.
alas save it for tragic situations, and save “boasts” for things you feel proud of
balloon used as a verb
battle with cancer People don’t die of cancer, they lose their battle with it, don’t suffer it but fight it, don’t recover from it but beat it.
beleaguered
bitter struggle, conflict, dispute etc.
boasts Please don’t use when you just mean “has”.
bolster as a verb. What's wrong with "support"? And when did you last see a bolster?
bay, bray = mobs always bay, while the upper classes bray
brutal Writers are fond of "brutal", and like applying it to things that can't be brutal, like "the brutal trajectory of the porn industry". I think this writer meant "unstoppable spread". (Trajectories go up and then down again.)
burgeoning Try "growing".
bustling Try “busy”.
came for happened, occurred, took place, followed, fell, was effected/done/carried out, coincided with. “Her murder comes after the deaths of several journalists…” Guardian July 17, 2007 How about “Her murder follows the deaths…”? I think people are trying to avoid the passive, but this is much worse.
catalyst
chiming guitars, swirling synths
combat for fight, oppose, counter
comes after, in the wake of follows
cosset, pamper, indulge, decadence Inseparable from articles about massage, spas or beauty treatments.
draw for prompt, evoke etc
dry = facts are always dry, esp in education debate - see cram, regurgitate etc
erupt for break out, happen, occur
explode for increase (verb)
explosion for increase (noun)
fan flames for exacerbate
forge for create, give rise to, form
frenzied speculation is always frenzied
fuel a surge and other inappropriate things
fuelled by for impelled, built up, constructed, powered, encouraged, provoked, driven, incited, powered, prompted, facilitated, made possible, instigated, contributed to, promoted, advanced, exacerbated, aggravated, worsened fuel According to the biography, du Maurier believed the male energy was the demon that fuelled her creative life as a writer. wiki Can you use demons as fuel?
garner for gain
girding for preparing
good-humoured to describe behaviour of protesters and police
grip = what frost does to areas
head off for avert, fend off, stave off, ward off, preclude
hurdle for problem, obstacle, barrier
iconic of buildings, means BIG
ignite for set off, cause, prompt etc. It's only used for starting riots, not for setting light to anything. If a riot is “ignited”, rioters will “torch” cars and buildings.
isolated beauty spot The place where the body is found.
jolt for tilt, disturb
jump for increase, rise
key for core
kick start for start, prompt, cause – it implies that all you have to do is kick the machine and then it’ll run by itself.
level/s for amount/s
lull into a sense of false security Why not soothed, stupefied, tranquillised, sedated?
mane If a woman has grey hair, it's a "mane"
mired in for involved in, embroiled in, caught up in, entangled in, stuck in etc
more than = upwards of, north of, plus
mull is headlinese for consider
nuns No one can mention them without using the word wimple. Most nuns wear ordinary clothes, and have done since the 70s.
ongoing = continuing
ordeal = kidnap victims always suffer an ordeal
outpouring of grief (but upsurge of protest)
plummet for fall
pummel (what waves do to coasts)
reeling = everybody reels far too often (still reeling from the shock of…)
relentless, remorseless progress etc Avoid when you mean endlessly, ceaselessly, unstoppably (it’s the pathetic fallacy, innit).
riven for split, divided
saw as in “last year saw an increase in X”, or "Germany has seen". Try “last year X increased”, Germany has experienced or witnessed (or X took place in Germany).
sharply for severely
shrink for lessen, fall
sit for lie, stand "The crypt which sat (and still sits today) beneath the 11th century church." Which lay, and which still exists? The silliest example I ever read was "IBM sits firmly in all three camps". The plaza has continued to sit empty. grist.org (lie empty) Cork’s Elysian Tower “now lies largely empty”. Irish Times June 2011 (Towers stand. We hope.)
sit well with for agree with, appeal to, go down well with, find acceptance with
skirl = what bagpipes do
spark for start, cause, prompt, result in, lead to, provoke
spat for row
spawn for cause, give rise to, result in, lead to, generate
spry, sprightly as applied to older men (they're also dapper)
spur for prompt, encourage)
sun beats down
tensions for ethnic hatred or violence A move credited with helping thaw Cold War tensions. Time.com inflaming tensions New Scientist Nov 09
the bulk of for most
trigger for cause etc (see spark)
tumult for trouble
tumultuous for potentially violent, troubled, eventful
typically for usually
uncanny prescience is always uncanny (with uncanny prescience)
underscore for emphasize, highlight, reveal, reflect
unravel peoples lives always “unravel”
vibrant for thriving
wedded to a point of view
weigh for consider
wrenching for disturbing
You don’t care a jot, if asked if you’re worried you say "Not one whit", there is never the slightest whiff of scandal, and you go a tad off course. Milk? Just a dash!
Writers are fond of words that make their sentences sound like a bowl of rice crispies (snap! crackle! pop!), like grapple, or "do battle" for fight. They like to “hit the X key” rather than “tap” it. Rocks
"hurtle in orbit round Saturn” – they might be spinning gently. They like "shattered" for broken,
but apply it to things that can’t shatter,
like “iron laws”. They smash taboos or records, instead of breaking them.
So instead of employing an over-used metaphor, why not just say what you mean?
bring about, carry out
cause, consider, considerable, considerably, considering
decrease
establish, eventually
fortunately, furthermore
gain
happen, hardly
improve, increase
largely, lessen
mainly
namely
occur
particularly, perform
reason, result from, reveal
situated in, start
take place, thanks to
undergo, undertake, unfortunately
what’s more, worsen
More cliches here, here, here and here.
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Cliches
