Friday, November 10, 2006
Life as a cliché...
November 03, 2006 04:06 pm
Cliché Day: When 1,000 words is worth a picture (or story)
Eddie Glenn
Tahlequah Daily Press
Every dog has his day.
And evidently, so does every minuscule detail of modern society, including the cliché.
Not to beat around the bush about it; we’ll just come right out and tell you that, as hard as this fact may be to swallow, today is National Cliché Day.
Really, we’re not just yanking your chain. We wouldn’t pull your leg about something as serious as National Cliché Day.
In fact, the Daily Press has left no stone unturned to keep you up to date on this special day. Being in the business of piecing together words and phrases – and buying ink by the barrel – this is a day after our own hearts. Plus, writing about such important events is all in a day’s work around here.
But we’re not all talk and no action. We beat the streets to find some folks to speak their minds about National Cliché Day – to air their dirty laundry, so to speak.
“National Cliché Day?” asked Andy Jenson, before laughing so hard one would’ve thought that just the idea of a day dedicated to clichés was funnier than a barrel of monkeys. “Well, if that ain’t the cat’s meow!”
Jenson doesn’t have a “favorite” cliché, but there are a few he’d just as soon never hear again.
“I always hated the one, ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul,’” he said, followed by a few moments of awkward silence as everyone present tried to figure out what it is about that particular cliché that sticks in Jenson’s craw.
“What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?” he asked.
Marcus Jones has a least-favorite cliché, too – one he says he heard quite often this past summer.
“‘It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity,’” Jones recited. “No kidding? The humidity? Hot is hot, it doesn’t matter what’s causing it. I don’t feel a damn bit cooler just because I’ve been informed by some meteorological genius that it’s the humidity making me hot, not the heat.”
Jones added however, that one cliché has always been a bit confusing for him.
“Is it ‘I could care less,’ or ‘I couldn’t care less’?” he asked, although he conceded that he could (or couldn’t) care less about the answer: He’d accept whichever ones means “less concern.”
“Because if you could care less, that means you’ve still got some concern about whatever, but if you couldn’t care less, you’ve already hit rock bottom, as far as concern is concerned.”
(For those who actually do care about such things, the appropriate phrase is “I couldn’t care less.”)
American Heritage Dictionary defines a cliché as “a trite expression or idea.” It defines “trite” as “overused and commonplace; lacking interest or originality.”
So there you have it: Clear as mud. But is lack of interest or originality really such a bad thing?
The Web site findarticles.com actually has suggestions for school teachers on how to celebrate National Cliché Day in their classrooms. (Honest, they do! We’re not trying to pull the wool over your eyes here.)
The site suggests sponsoring a rap contest with a prize for the rapper who most cleverly incorporates clichés into a rap song.
The most cleverly used clichés?
Now that’s original. Only it isn’t. It all gets so confusing.
“I like clichés,” said Kelly Wood, who said one of his favorite songs is a Bruce Springsteen tune with lyrics that feature cliché after cliché, including, “every cloud has a silver lining,” “the early bird gets the worm,” “a winner never quits and a quitter never wins,” “and Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
“Cliches are kind of like a common artistic language we all understand,” said Wood. “They’re overused for a reason: They work, and they tend to be true. Rome really wasn’t built in a day.”
And there you have it: the long and the short of clichés. And hopefully, by the time National Cliché Day is over, a good time will have been had by all. ¶ 12:32 AM
Cliché Day: When 1,000 words is worth a picture (or story)
Eddie Glenn
Tahlequah Daily Press
Every dog has his day.
And evidently, so does every minuscule detail of modern society, including the cliché.
Not to beat around the bush about it; we’ll just come right out and tell you that, as hard as this fact may be to swallow, today is National Cliché Day.
Really, we’re not just yanking your chain. We wouldn’t pull your leg about something as serious as National Cliché Day.
In fact, the Daily Press has left no stone unturned to keep you up to date on this special day. Being in the business of piecing together words and phrases – and buying ink by the barrel – this is a day after our own hearts. Plus, writing about such important events is all in a day’s work around here.
But we’re not all talk and no action. We beat the streets to find some folks to speak their minds about National Cliché Day – to air their dirty laundry, so to speak.
“National Cliché Day?” asked Andy Jenson, before laughing so hard one would’ve thought that just the idea of a day dedicated to clichés was funnier than a barrel of monkeys. “Well, if that ain’t the cat’s meow!”
Jenson doesn’t have a “favorite” cliché, but there are a few he’d just as soon never hear again.
“I always hated the one, ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul,’” he said, followed by a few moments of awkward silence as everyone present tried to figure out what it is about that particular cliché that sticks in Jenson’s craw.
“What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?” he asked.
Marcus Jones has a least-favorite cliché, too – one he says he heard quite often this past summer.
“‘It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity,’” Jones recited. “No kidding? The humidity? Hot is hot, it doesn’t matter what’s causing it. I don’t feel a damn bit cooler just because I’ve been informed by some meteorological genius that it’s the humidity making me hot, not the heat.”
Jones added however, that one cliché has always been a bit confusing for him.
“Is it ‘I could care less,’ or ‘I couldn’t care less’?” he asked, although he conceded that he could (or couldn’t) care less about the answer: He’d accept whichever ones means “less concern.”
“Because if you could care less, that means you’ve still got some concern about whatever, but if you couldn’t care less, you’ve already hit rock bottom, as far as concern is concerned.”
(For those who actually do care about such things, the appropriate phrase is “I couldn’t care less.”)
American Heritage Dictionary defines a cliché as “a trite expression or idea.” It defines “trite” as “overused and commonplace; lacking interest or originality.”
So there you have it: Clear as mud. But is lack of interest or originality really such a bad thing?
The Web site findarticles.com actually has suggestions for school teachers on how to celebrate National Cliché Day in their classrooms. (Honest, they do! We’re not trying to pull the wool over your eyes here.)
The site suggests sponsoring a rap contest with a prize for the rapper who most cleverly incorporates clichés into a rap song.
The most cleverly used clichés?
Now that’s original. Only it isn’t. It all gets so confusing.
“I like clichés,” said Kelly Wood, who said one of his favorite songs is a Bruce Springsteen tune with lyrics that feature cliché after cliché, including, “every cloud has a silver lining,” “the early bird gets the worm,” “a winner never quits and a quitter never wins,” “and Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
“Cliches are kind of like a common artistic language we all understand,” said Wood. “They’re overused for a reason: They work, and they tend to be true. Rome really wasn’t built in a day.”
And there you have it: the long and the short of clichés. And hopefully, by the time National Cliché Day is over, a good time will have been had by all. ¶ 12:32 AM
