“Avoid clichés like the plague.”
Well, that’s the received wisdom, and you can see why. What eventually became clichés were once vibrant, imaginative ways of provoking a sensory response. By over use, they have lost their buzz. Phrases like: “In the nick of time”; “As old as the hills”; “Scared out of my wits”; and “The quiet before the storm”.
Researchers in Spain have done a study on how the brain reacts to several different types of words. They found that common figures of speech such as ‘a tough day’ have become so familiar to our brains that they are interpreted as words, but no more. These clichés may have evoked a sensory response in the brain when they were first used, but familiarity has meant they have lost that power.
So, for if your objective is a fine, polished, original piece – by all means eschew the cliché. But that doesn’t mean they have no role. They can be invaluable as a way to make copy sound ‘conversational’. In real life, we all speak in clichés. For the novelist or short story writer, the cliché is a sure way to avoid characters sounding like someone from a Jane Austin novel. And, for the copywriter seeking a conversational tone of voice for web pages, the cliché can be ‘pure gold’.
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Well, that’s the received wisdom, and you can see why. What eventually became clichés were once vibrant, imaginative ways of provoking a sensory response. By over use, they have lost their buzz. Phrases like: “In the nick of time”; “As old as the hills”; “Scared out of my wits”; and “The quiet before the storm”.
Researchers in Spain have done a study on how the brain reacts to several different types of words. They found that common figures of speech such as ‘a tough day’ have become so familiar to our brains that they are interpreted as words, but no more. These clichés may have evoked a sensory response in the brain when they were first used, but familiarity has meant they have lost that power.
So, for if your objective is a fine, polished, original piece – by all means eschew the cliché. But that doesn’t mean they have no role. They can be invaluable as a way to make copy sound ‘conversational’. In real life, we all speak in clichés. For the novelist or short story writer, the cliché is a sure way to avoid characters sounding like someone from a Jane Austin novel. And, for the copywriter seeking a conversational tone of voice for web pages, the cliché can be ‘pure gold’.
Click to read all Writer's Tips Blog posts