The "Cliche"

The Cliche

The cliche is a phrase that has been used again and again, first in speech and then in writing. The inexperienced reader and the beginning writer often don't realize that they are using one or more cliches in their papers because these tired, old phrases slip quietly from their everyday speech into their writing.

"Fat as a pig," "white as a ghost," "run like the wind," once fresh and full of color, are now just static noise in a paper. Your _Class Handbook_ has a list of approximately eighty cliches. The fix: change the marked phrase to something else.

To return to the main page, click HERE

© 1999, 2000, 2001 by Lloyd Worley. All rights reserved under international copyright convention. Other than a single printout for archival purposes made by a student in Prof. Lloyd Worley's classes at UNC, neither this page nor any other link to this page may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior written permission of the copyright holder.