It's Not For Me To Say

Greetings, Brittany here!

Once again it's Monday night, and once again I'm blogging about an article! Besides the fact that I have nothing better to do, I have to admit I've become obsessed (and it's only week three)!
So moving on, my article this time around is ironicly titled Let's Think Outside the Box of Bad Cliches. Why is this title ironic you might ask, this is because it's about phrases that we often use when writing and conversing that are overused and most of the time shouldn't be used at all.

My last article was about handwriting becoming obsolete, and while we may not have to worry about that happening for quite some time, certain phrases and cliches used when writing are becoming obsolete and even extinct. And according to the professor who wrote the article it's about time! The professor was grading papers one night when he noticed how often phases such as "It goes without saying" or "Who can say?" were repeated by his students. But it's not just students using them, even doctors do it!

Some of the cliche phrases include:

• It's raining cats and dogs (you know you've said it, should I call the Humane Society?)
• It goes without saying (so why say it?!?)
• Who can say? (how about the writer?)
• He literally won by a landslide (was it literal? Does anyone need help?)
• Pushing the envelope (huh?)
• Take a leadership role (can't anyone just lead these days?)
• Beyond the shadow of a doubt (what?)
• Leave no stone unturned (what for?)
• In the nick of time (thank goodness!)
• Bores me to tears (if you're crying it's most likely not very boring!)
• On the bubble (I don't have a clue either)

And then theres the cliches that are simply redundant:

• Mass exodus (is there a small one?)
• Foreseeable furture (yet I've never heard anyone talk about an unforseeable one!?!)
• Forgone conclusion (verses a "non-forgone" conclusion?)
• Broad daylight (is there a narrow one?)

So after reviewing these cliche phrases, with the help of my comments, we discover these really are cliche phrases that are overused, unnecessary, and even redundant. In other words, after furture review I agree with the professor! However, I can see where this problem gets it's roots. These phrases are used everyday by everyone and we've all grown accustom to hearing them and most likely even using them. To be honest, before I read this article I used many of these phrases and even encouraged their usage! I actually thought that by using them I sounded intelligent and was impressing my peers and teachers (not making them roll their eyes!). I learned my lesson and a few other things along the way. So, leaving no stone unturned (haha) I leave you with one final question:

Has this ever happened to you?

My answer is, beyond the shadow of a doubt!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (just kidding)

If you are interested, this article is in the August 6, 2007 issue of Newsweek. Yes, once again I used an actual magizine, and once again it was a trusty Newsweek magizine!