pedants’ paradise – but these really are cliches to avoid… aren’t they?
recently, there’s been a torrent of letters to the Daily Telegraph expressing rage at the cliches and linguistic nightmares that dominate modern life. they do read as though they are all written by ‘Disgusted of Tonbridge Wells’ – but they do often have a point. Here are a few:
Added Bonus; Close proximity; New innovation; First invented by (all tautologies) In a very real sense; From the get-go; Quantum leap; A robust national debate (what’s that when it’s at home?) (cliches) Focused instead of ‘concentrating’; In the workplace instead of ‘at work’; To cut a long story short instead of ‘briefly’; to plan ahead instead of ‘plan’ “Nonsensical corporate names created by compounding words, as in “Travelodge” and “Parceline”. What exactly is to “trave” or a “parce”? Andwhatiswrongwithagapbetweenwords?”
One thing that really gets to me (more…)