This page has been visited times.

Jack: "Hey, how's it going?" Alois: "Okay, and you?" Jack: "Fine. Erm, listen, have you completed the 10 page paper yet? Alois: "No, not yet. You?" Jack: "Getting there. Remind me when it's due again…" Alois: "Friday, I think" Jack: "What's the date today?" Alois: "Wednesday" Jack: "What the ??? in two days?" Alois: "Yeah, it's no problem" Jack: "If you say so" Alois: "Don't worry about it; I'll be fine" Jack: "Yeah. Fine. Whatever" Alois: "I'll see you around then, yeah" Jack: "See ya"

Have you ever wondered what life would be without them? Have you ever imagined whether we could speak without them? Have you even began to think what role they play for us?

I'm talking about that literary tool which often seems to find its way into our conversation with people - the cliché. The cliché has a knack of getting us into tight corners or embarrassing us. If it is not doing either, you will probably find it trying to get us to convert people or their ideas.

I mean, how many of us have not used cliches at one point in our lives? "Think positive"; "I'm sorry"; "I love you". What do these really mean, and why can we not find alternatives? I think it's easy to see why not: they are simple words that are very easy to remember. We carry an innumerable amount of cliches, both short and long, in our pocket, ready to perform rhetorical magic any time someone says they're feeling low - "think positive man! -- or to express how sorry we feel about something - "oh, I'm sorry".

We love to use cliches because they don't make us think. We know they're flat, yet it is a lot easier to use them than rack our brain trying to find an alternative. One would hardly expect someone to say to a person whose relative has died, anything but "I'm sorry", or someone to tell his partner, "I have a strong affection for you". You just don't do you? It sounds silly. Neither would you expect a contrite person to express apology by saying "I regret the error I have committed unto thee". You leave such grammatical structures for writers like Shakespeare to use.

This does not mean that we are stupid or intellectually lazy, but it does indicate how we need to save time and make life easier for ourselves. We cannot cut corners in writing, yet we can so easily do it with speech. Colourful language - such as expletives - and slang are aspects of how flexible speech is, and how rigid and prosaic writing can be.

Contrary to what some academics believe, cliches are, to an extent, useful because, for starters, they help one start, maintain and finish conversations. We have heard them many times, but what else could one possibly say if they did not exist? Dictionaries would probably have to be re-written, and culture would be so different.

Another reason why cliches are an important part of culture is because they give us a starting point for a difficult thought. For example, when someone is feeling down, you are hardly going to give them a lecture on positive thinking; neither would you ask how someone was, with the words "how are you feeling in mind and spirit today"? Trying to say too much in speech, usually comes out as pedantry.

Sometimes, keeping things short is better -- particularly in speech. We spend most of our lives complaining how short life is. If cliches did not exist, we would probably make it shorter.

©Max Sunrise 1999

Click on the following...