4.3 Word Choice
Avoiding Clichés
Clichés are descriptive expressions that have lost their effectiveness because they are overused. Writing that uses clichés often suffers from a lack of originality and insight. Avoiding clichés in formal writing will help you write in original and fresh ways.
- Clichéd: Whenever my brother and I get into an argument, he always says something that makes my blood boil.
- Plain: Whenever my brother and I get into an argument, he always says something that makes me really angry.
- Original: Whenever my brother and I get into an argument, he always says something that makes me want to go to the gym and punch the bag for a few hours.
TipThink about all the cliché phrases that you hear in popular music or in everyday conversation. What would happen if these clichés were transformed into something unique? |
Exercise 3
On your own sheet of paper, revise the following sentences by replacing the clichés with fresh, original descriptions.
- She is writing a memoir in which she will air her family’s dirty laundry.
- Fran had an ax to grind with Benny, and she planned to confront him that night at the party.
- Mr. Muller was at his wit’s end with the rowdy class of seventh graders.
- The bottom line is that Greg was fired because he missed too many days of work.
- Sometimes it is hard to make ends meet with just one paycheck.
- My brain is fried from pulling an all-nighter.
- Maria left the dishes in the sink all week to give Jeff a taste of his own medicine.
- While they were at the carnival Janice exclaimed, “Time sure does fly when you are having fun!”
- Jeremy became tongue-tied after the interviewer asked him where he saw himself in five years.
- Jordan was dressed to the nines that night.
