Cliches R Us
There are hundreds of thousands of words in the English language, or maybe more than a million, depending on who you ask, so you would think that I could come up with mostly unique, one-of-a-kind phrases. But, no! My blog is doomed to be riddled with cliches. I find myself using the same words and phrases over and over again. Triteness abounds. Commonality is comfortable.
The English language is filled with common phrases and slang that are universally used throughout the English-speaking world. Much common English phraseology even spills over into other languages as other world cultures strive to adopt Western thought and practice. Americans may be the worst offenders where slang is concerned. Here in America, where we pride ourselves on free thought and speech, certain turns of speech catch the public's attention, and what was originally a unique phrase is popularized to the point that it, too, becomes mundane. It is what it is.
I've heard that the English language has more idioms than any other language. And what, you may ask, is an idiom? Idiom is defined as "a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words." So, English-speaking people have developed standard phrases like "it's raining cats and dogs" or "it's pouring rain" or, even, "it's dumping buckets," all meaning the same thing: the clouds are producing copious amounts of rain. When people repeat the same cute phrases over and over again, they are ingrained into our minds, becoming a natural part of our common language. Unfortunately, English learners are often stopped in their tracks, doomed before they even begin because, let's face it, English words and phrases can't always be taken at face value.
"Say what you mean and mean what you say." Those are good words to live by, but totally irrelevant to the English language because, unfortunately, English words don't often mean what they say.
Woe to those poor English language learners who have to sort all of the English oddities into their appropriate categories! I've heard that English is among the hardest of languages to learn, precisely because of its many idioms. And American English is even harder to master because of it is filled with ever-evolving slang. Add all of this to the growing number of acronyms in our language--those alphabetized jumbles of meaningless capital letters that serve as convenient abbreviations for all kinds of company names, titles, and phrases--and there you have it, a cliche-filled language that is hard to learn and even harder to keep up with.
Is it any wonder that those of us who choose to write are unable to come up with any unique turns of phrase? Try as we might, even our best writing is filled with cliches, idioms, and slang.
So, right now, I am making a vow. From this point forward, I will proof-read judiciously to root out unintentional banality. I will choose my words carefully, while maintaining readability. And when I decide to include any idioms or slang in my writing, I will make sure to include each one only once in any given post. Except when I want to make a point.
The English language is filled with common phrases and slang that are universally used throughout the English-speaking world. Much common English phraseology even spills over into other languages as other world cultures strive to adopt Western thought and practice. Americans may be the worst offenders where slang is concerned. Here in America, where we pride ourselves on free thought and speech, certain turns of speech catch the public's attention, and what was originally a unique phrase is popularized to the point that it, too, becomes mundane. It is what it is.
I've heard that the English language has more idioms than any other language. And what, you may ask, is an idiom? Idiom is defined as "a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words." So, English-speaking people have developed standard phrases like "it's raining cats and dogs" or "it's pouring rain" or, even, "it's dumping buckets," all meaning the same thing: the clouds are producing copious amounts of rain. When people repeat the same cute phrases over and over again, they are ingrained into our minds, becoming a natural part of our common language. Unfortunately, English learners are often stopped in their tracks, doomed before they even begin because, let's face it, English words and phrases can't always be taken at face value.
"Say what you mean and mean what you say." Those are good words to live by, but totally irrelevant to the English language because, unfortunately, English words don't often mean what they say.
Woe to those poor English language learners who have to sort all of the English oddities into their appropriate categories! I've heard that English is among the hardest of languages to learn, precisely because of its many idioms. And American English is even harder to master because of it is filled with ever-evolving slang. Add all of this to the growing number of acronyms in our language--those alphabetized jumbles of meaningless capital letters that serve as convenient abbreviations for all kinds of company names, titles, and phrases--and there you have it, a cliche-filled language that is hard to learn and even harder to keep up with.
Is it any wonder that those of us who choose to write are unable to come up with any unique turns of phrase? Try as we might, even our best writing is filled with cliches, idioms, and slang.
So, right now, I am making a vow. From this point forward, I will proof-read judiciously to root out unintentional banality. I will choose my words carefully, while maintaining readability. And when I decide to include any idioms or slang in my writing, I will make sure to include each one only once in any given post. Except when I want to make a point.
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