Claims Writing Coach: Avoiding Clichés
Clichés are trite written or verbal expressions that are used over and over, eventually wearing themselves out and communicating very little. At first, a phrase is coined and gains popularity (e.g., “Enclosed please find,” “do not hesitate to call,” “point in time”). After a while, people tire of the phrase and it loses whatever luster it had.
The world of entertainment has created many phrases that have gone from often repeated and wildly popular (e.g. “make you an offer you can’t refuse,” “final answer?”, “fake news,” “master of my domain”) to overused. Clichés are the trash heap of a language.
So, if you want your writing to be cliche-free, make it a point to never use a phrase that you are used to seeing in print. In addition, stay away from the following phrases that have “worn out their welcome” – yet another cliche.
- acid test
- as soon as possible
- back to square one
- back to the drawing board
- ballpark figure
- better late than never
- beyond a shadow of a doubt
- bottom line
- brainstorm
- bread-and-butter issue
- bury the hachet
- can of worms
- cost-effective
- dealing with
- dialogue
- do’s and don’ts
- escalates
- expertise
- eyeball (used as a verb)
- feedback
- few and far between
- first and foremost
- gentle reminder
- get in on the ground floor
- great success
- grind to a halt
- hands-on
- hence
- heretofore
- hit the nail on the head
- it’s a pleasure doing business with you
- light of day
- meaningful
- next to nothing
- no-no
- not a minute too soon
- overkill
- point in time
- putting the cart before the horse
- richly deserved
- state of the art
- thanking you in advance
- top dollar
- tried and true
- try it on for size
- under review
- viable
- vitally important
- welcome you with open arms
- win-win situation