A List of Clichés
This post is a quick continuation of the last one, Various Types of Metaphor. I actually meant to add this to that post, but forgot.
A writer needs to be aware of not including trite metaphors and clichés in their writing, or else you may risk losing a reader’s attention.
What is a cliché? A cliché is an expression (such as a metaphor) that has been used so often it loses its freshness and meaning. For example:
“It’s bone-chilling cold”
“Sleeping like the dead”
“At the end of my rope”
“Nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof”
“Nip it in the bud”
So, how do you know if what you wrote is a cliché? There are two ways that I know of, to determine this:
- Just ask yourself, have I heard this before? The chances are, if you’ve written an expression that you’ve heard before then it’s probably a cliché.
- You can research a list of clichés at the following site: The Cliche Site
The site provides an enormous list of clichés that you can reference if you aren’t sure about the expression you are using. Take a visit if you’re curious.
There, that was relatively painless, wasn’t it? Enjoy!
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