Many writers try to avoid using cliché phrases to add to the originality of their work.

What is a cliché?

Cliché: a word borrowed from the French, used to denote a phrase or idiom employed by habit instead of meaningfully. e.g. Her skin was as white as snow. It is a stock phrase employed without thought and heard or read without visualization.

-from the Prentice Hall Guide to English Literature


Cliché: (from the French 'stereotype plate') A trite, over-used expression which is lifeless. A very large number of idioms have become cliches through excessive use. The following sentence contains eight common ones: 'When the grocer, who was as fit as a fiddle, had taken stock of the situation he saw the writing on the wall, but decided to turn over a new leaf and put his house in order by taking a long shot at eliminating his rival in the street - who was also an old hand at making the best of a bad job.' Hackneyed litereary phrases (often misquoted) are another form of cliche. Pope remarked caustically on these in his Essay on Criticism (II, 350 ff) when criticizing the stereotyped mannerisms of 18th c. poetasters:


Where'er you find 'the cooling western breeze',
In the next line it 'whispers through the trees';
If crystal streams 'with pleasing murmurs creep',
The reader's threatened (not in vain) with 'sleep'.


-from the Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory


Main Entry: cli·ché
Variant(s): also cli.che /klE-'shA, 'klE-", kli-'/
Function: noun
Etymology: French, literally, printer's stereotype, from past participle of clicher to stereotype, of imitative origin
Date: 1892
1 : a trite phrase or expression; also : the idea expressed by it
2 : a hackneyed theme, characterization, or situation
3 : something (as a menu item) that has become overly familiar or commonplace
- cliché adjective

- Merriam Webster Dictionary


Sources -

--- Here's an interesting reference site that's filled with an alphabetical index of cliché verses and such to help you avoid using them in your poetry and writing- clichesite.com/alpha_l...ich=lett+1

--- Cliché Finder - A search database that lets you search for clichés, all you have to do is type in a word.
www.westegg.com/cliche/

Thank you for posting this cliche site. I'm sure it will be very useful to me in future.

Islandgrrl.

my stand on cliches is that they were common use for a reason so it's not unreasonable to use them occasionally.

I was told once that it is okay to break a writing rule, but only after you know the rules perfectly; thus when you break it it has an important purpose.

This is great information John. Thanks for posting

Great post. I agree with you completely. However, I do find, though cliches are useful when you mess with them, or write them wrong. Such as being "fit as a puddle." It's kind of using the cliche against itself. The reader, when reading a cliche, will usually stop thinking a bit after entering a cliche and you can play a fast play and end up taking them into a place they didn't expect. It's not something I suppose everyone will use, but I have a great time with them. Cutting open a cliche and mutating it can open interesting avenues for expression, especially when you start setting them against each other.

A Lilo and Stitch in thyme
Saves Revolution number nine
and with Charley Bird on hand,
so much better than in the Bush camp,
we'll find the campaign promised land.

Ok it's not the greatest example, but I hope you can see as you read it, part of your mind wants to read the cliches, but part of your mind sees something different. I like the conflict and have had some success exploiting the evil power of cliches against themselves. Course, it could be just me, cause I love to play with, mutate and often torture words. Anyways, I just wanted to suggest there are ways to use cliches and other things you should normally avoid like abstractions as long as you know you are using them and are using them with a specific use in mind, and not because your lazy and don't want to think of a new and powerful way to express something.

Just a thought.

Excellent starting point for learning and debate, thank you.

I wish to casually bung the following rhetorical question into the mix:

If a cliche is used innocently, and is therefore original to the author, who are we to throw a book of writing rules at their head, and say "try harder!"?

Kimbo wrote:

Excellent starting point for learning and debate, thank you. I wish to casually bung the following rhetorical question into the mix: If a cliche is used innocently, and is therefore original to the author, who are we to throw a book of writing rules at their head, and say "try harder!"?

If we just throw the book at them in triumph, we're elitists and snobs, who are pretty cliched all on their own.

If we let them know the book is there and that r4eading it may create a shift in approach may make their poems more meaningful and powerful, we're trying to help fellow poets -- and that, fer damn sure, isn't cliche.

Cool, I can see that, ok so is a cliche generally accepted as a negative thing to be avoided, or something that can add value, or both? I can see a point where the human race will run out of combinations of expressions and be left only with cliches!

Cliche's are useful building blocks in my idea. That they were monce original thought and that as writers and performers we use the cliche's not just deem them as fodder for those not belonging to the poetic elite. Cliches have become cliches for a reason. They are prime examples of the collective human unconcious.

I enjoy playing on cliches, using something that has been heard a million times before, and putting a twist on it. I think in spoken word particularly, playing on recognisable phrases and concepts can be a good way of communicating a point quickly , and can be easier for people to take in. But I think it is always important to have a reason for doing so.

With spoken word, especially if done with a quick delivery, the points must be simple and to the point, sometimes cliched, so that the audience can take in what you are saying before they hear the next part.

I guess my point is cliches can work, as long as they are part of a framework with an original concept.

jonathanchin wrote:

my stand on cliches is that they were common use for a reason so it's not unreasonable to use them occasionally.

i feel the same way.

and i enjoy plays on cliches as well lukaki.

i think theres exceptions to every rule and
i definately use that belief to break them! ha

I hate to say it, but playing off cliches is approaching cliche.

I've seen it done over and over for over 10 years now.

John wrote:

I hate to say it, but playing off cliches is approaching cliche. I've seen it done over and over for over 10 years now.

What goes around...

I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself.

exactly... cliches will always be around. people arent original and our ideas dont come from thin air they come from outside us and then we just pick and choose teh ones we want to express.
in a sense, everythings a cliche to me some are just more widely used
and i dont really get why they're 'off limits'

tanka wrote:

exactly... cliches will always be around. people arent original and our ideas dont come from thin air they come from outside us and then we just pick and choose teh ones we want to express. in a sense, everythings a cliche to me some are just more widely used and i dont really get why they're 'off limits'

Oh dear. It appears that I have let my inability to control myself from being a smartass mislead you.

I agree with what John says. The rare use of cliche can be acceptable but as artists who wish to improve constantly, (which should really be the goal IMHO) we shouldn't rely on crutches so easily.

It's definitely something I will need to work on as well. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression.

Here's an interesting quote I stumbled on today regarding cliches... the rest of the article it came from is good reading too..

Quote:

Images need to use accessible language before they can work properly. But the language has to be presented in a newer twist. In other words, clichés may be beautiful and ready-made, but they impress nobody, really. I’m convinced that the phrase “Till the end of time” was efficient when it was first uttered. Alas, today it isn’t. When I write, I often just leave the cliché in place as the poem unfolds, but then underline it for heavy-duty tweaking later. Accessible language put in a fresh light. Salvador Dali has said that “the first man to compare the cheeks of a young woman to a rose was obviously a poet; the first to repeat it was possibly an idiot.”

falling blind- no worries, i definately mis read, my friend and i tried to remember to add (sar) after any sarcastic comment online but that didnt last long... and this doesnt change my mind...

i just dont think its that big of deal to use cliche's... ya they can be used as a crutch, but i think if they were, it'd be obvious elsewhere in the poem that the poet wasnt that great and couldnt be more innovative...

and i think its possible to teach some old cliches new tricks ( but i guess that would change the meaning of the cliche, and by default chaning the status of the cliche, so that it's no longer one ? if so, this doesnt matter then...)

a lot of us humans are unoriginal, and a lot of us are idiots, well most i think...but i dont think being unoriginal makes one an idiot.
and when i come across an 'idiots' poem, i just stop reading/listening and the idiot magically disappears

side question..
whats IMHO? i've seen that alot but i have no idea what it means...

tanka wrote:

side question.. whats IMHO? i've seen that alot but i have no idea what it means...

In My Humble Opinion

o thanks.
btw, i'm not prez of the cliche fan club...i *try* not to use/rely on them. and i like to think of myself as innovative, or at least some of the time....
but i also like to moonlight as a devils adovacate.

o dear, "devils advocate?"
how cliche of me..
i'll just stop while i'm not too far behind.

My two cents:

My little blurb here are my personal musings on cliché which includes a little discussion of one of the poems I posted on the site recently. I hope it doesn't bore you. Please preface all assertions that I make with "IMHO". I speak in the assertive at all times with the expectation of refutation.

The creation of art (poetry) is similar to a scientist in the lab forcing genetic mutation, i.e., forcing "meme" mutation. At this point in time in history, information flow is so rapid and wide that clichés are tumbling on top of originality. Cliché of form and rhythm is another problem with the introduction of Coltrane, Pollack, and free-form, despite some underlying rhythmic patterns. "Ode to This Poem" is about this very subject and the reason that the rhythm of the poem has a slilght beatnick feel to it. The mixed message of the poem lies in the fact that the poem itself is slick in delivery, similar in style to old-school rap, derived from beatnick poetry, but it rhymes and follows a standard form and rhyming scheme while both mocking and praising the style as well as ink and paper over the visually delivered, because you can't alter the meaning of ink and paper poetry with body language. "Descent to Hell" used cliché of form (rhyming scheme), tone, and imagery in an attempt to deliver the image of the stereotypical southern preacher standing in the devil's house or at the "Crossroads".

dopio wrote:

My two cents: My little blurb here are my personal musings on cliché which includes a little discussion of one of the poems I posted on the site recently. I hope it doesn't bore you. Please preface all assertions that I make with "IMHO". I speak in the assertive at all times with the expectation of refutation. The creation of art (poetry) is similar to a scientist in the lab forcing genetic mutation, i.e., forcing "meme" mutation. At this point in time in history, information flow is so rapid and wide that clichés are tumbling on top of originality. Cliché of form and rhythm is another problem with the introduction of Coltrane, Pollack, and free-form, despite some underlying rhythmic patterns. "Ode to This Poem" is about this very subject and the reason that the rhythm of the poem has a slilght beatnick feel to it. The mixed message of the poem lies in the fact that the poem itself is slick in delivery, similar in style to old-school rap, derived from beatnick poetry, but it rhymes and follows a standard form and rhyming scheme while both mocking and praising the style as well as ink and paper over the visually delivered, because you can't alter the meaning of ink and paper poetry with body language. "Descent to Hell" used cliché of form (rhyming scheme), tone, and imagery in an attempt to deliver the image of the stereotypical southern preacher standing in the devil's house or at the "Crossroads".

man, you try too hard.

Your response doesn't say much.

...I just went hunting for your posted work and found something in the Workshop. Nice job. I have a better understanding of your comment. Most of the poetry I've posted on the site was written in about 5-10 minutes. All of the junk in my comment above is just a breakdown of what I think I see and do...whether it's valid or true(?).