So old hat - Karen Bush
Preying on my mind
I’ve had clichés on my mind rather a lot recently (and yes, you don't need to point it out - I know, and it was intentional) … they tend to come in for a lot of criticism from some; although it could be said that any critic who accuses a book of being clichéd is guilty of hypocrisy. Or maybe simply doesn’t recognise a cliché when it jumps up and bites them on the nose.
Is there any such thing as a bad cliché? Personally I’ve
always liked ‘It was a dark and stormy night’. Cliché or not, I’ve always
thought it a perfect opening line to a book or a chapter. I mean, you read
those words and are hooked – because you just know that something exciting and
dramatic must surely be about to happen, so you keep on reading to find out. It
sets the scene perfectly for some kind of knicker-gripping event …
Bang bang
So I just don’t subscribe to the view that the only good cliché
is a dead cliché. I think they have their place – their very familiarity can be
comforting, can make for quick, easy reading at times and are less likely to
slow the action in fast-paced plots. What’s more, if you consider that a cliché
is an expression which lacks originality and impact through overuse – what
about those who have never come across them before? When you meet a cliché for
the first time, for you if not others, it will be original and have impact and
be a bright and shiny thing. It is only as you grow older and read more that it
starts to lose its lustre. Although in some cases, with time it acquires a less gaudy and
more attractive patina instead.
I rest my case.
Postcript:
I'm considering setting up a rescue centre for abandoned, mistreated and neglected clichés, with an attached annexe to rehome the sad and elderly ones that no-one wants any more, having thrown them out in favour of younger phrases and fashionable mixed metaphors. Please give one a home - but if you are unable to, then please donate generously. Donations of wine, cake and chocolate are accepted as well as hard currency ...
Comments
Unless I can see a good reason straight off for 'it was a dark and stormy night', I wouldn't be likely to read on. Language is too important, and the older I get, the more impatient I become with stuff that is merely a so-called 'good story'. Sure, I want to find out what happens, and generally twenty minutes of a page here or there, plus the ending, will do.
I want books that I can savour, not race through. Books that I can puzzle over. That make me bang my head on my desk in frustraton and envy because I'll never write anything that good.
Is this hypocrisy? I'm assuming you mean it's clichéd to criticise clichés, which is a very odd way of looking at critical thinking. You might just as easily call it clichéd to criticise bad spelling or grammar, pacing, problems with plot, whatever. (If I misunderstand you, then apologies.)
Of course, I've got a quite a number of clichés from my own writing that I may send to your rescue centre!
And what about old Bill S? Practically everything he wrote became a cliche. To be or not Toby. That is the question!
And of course, my evil plan is to write well enough for my own phrases and metaphors to become the next generation's clichés!
;-)
Meaning, sometimes you have to use them, because they are just so... useful. They are just another form of language. A cliche is like a word: 'he threw his hands up' is no more exceptionable than the word 'hand'. We recognise both, and both are useful in their place.
I hesitate to call all common idioms 'cliches' anyway. To my mind, a common idiom only becomes a cliche when it is used lazily, without thought, when another phrase (perhaps also common) would do better. So saying a guest at a garden party is 'cool as a cucumber' might be okay, because cucumber sandwiches are part of the setting. But saying a pilot is CAAC is less apt - you might instead say that he is 'calm as the clear sky' (to pluck one out of the air).
The rule of thumb is: think before use.
As to your liking for torture, surely being American is torture enough? (cliche and racist joke combined - what more could a woman want? (cliche)! Busis aus England.
But I'm happy to present something of a counter-argument to mine from a blog on photography:
http://www.nocaptionneeded.com/2014/04/alienicon-copy-helps-us-see-anew/
It's the opening sentence of the novel 'Paul Clifford' by Bulwer-Lytton - who coined the phrase (cliche) 'the pen is mightier than the sword.'
The opening sentence became famous as bad writing not because of 'It was a dark and stormy night' - which is a plain, simple statement of fact - but because of the long, tangled, clumsy wording that follows it. 'It was a dark and stormy night' simply became short-hand for the rest of the opening paragraph. Which, it might be argued, is bad writing because of style rather than cliche.
But I love argument and wrangling, me. It's how you tell people are alive - they argue.
The thing is, a cliché is often an effective phrase till it becomes a cliché. Its aptness is why it becomes one.
Think of it this way: the more you tell your kids something, the less they pay attention; the less your words work. So too with clichés.
And given Pratchett's sense of humour, I'd hazard that he wasn't being quite serious. But I don't have access to the context.
The night were dark and stormy,
The rain came down in lumps.
The tram were on its journey,
From 'Ollinwood to Mumps.
A dog ran on the tramline,
The driver rung 'is bell.
Dog didn't hear the signal -
So 'e's on 'is way to 'Alifax.
I hope this clears things up!
http://nickcohen.net/2014/04/10/you-sexistracistliberalelitist-bastard-how-dare-you/
http://www.westegg.com/cliche/