Clichés

A word to the wise: avoid clichés like the plague

 

We’ve all used them — those weary old phrases that once sparkled but now limp across the page, begging for retirement. Clichés are the well-worn coins of language, starting perhaps as an idiom, then passing from speaker to speaker until their shine is gone. Still, they endure because they’re quick, familiar, and often comforting. Here, we sort and celebrate (or gently mock) them by listing some of the more common types — opposites, twins, metaphors, and more — just to see how the overused can still be amusing when looked at with fresh eyes. Some websites list hundreds of clichés if you care to follow through!

 

1. Opposites (Contradictory or Paired Extremes)

Clichés that express looking everywhere, considering both sides, or encompassing extremes.

Examples: 

    • Look high and low; 
    • Through thick and thin; 
    • For better or worse; 
    • The long and the short of it;
    • Rain or shine; 
    • Sink or swim.

Function: Suggests totality, perseverance, or completeness.

2. Equals (Balanced or Reinforcing Pairs)

Phrases that use repetition, rhyme, or parallel structure to reinforce a single idea.

Examples: 

    • Fair and square; 
    • Tried and true;
    • Neat and tidy; 
    • Safe and sound; 
    • Short and sweet; 
    • Free and clear.

Function: Adds rhythm and emphasis, often to confirm success or closure.

3. Metaphoric Comparisons

Clichés that rely on figurative language — especially simile or metaphor.

Examples: 

    • Dumb as a doorknob; 
    • Easy as pie; 
    • Fit as a fiddle;
    • Tough as nails; 
    • Cool as a cucumber; 
    • Sharp as a tack.

Function: Creates vivid imagery that has become worn by overuse.

4. Hyperbolic or Exaggerated Expressions

Phrases that overstate for emotional effect.

Examples: 

    • To the ends of the earth; 
    • Scared to death; 
    • Worked my fingers to the bone; 
    • Cried a river; 
    • Dead tired.

Function: Heightens drama or intensity, often losing credibility through overuse.

5. Idiomatic Metaphors (Nonliteral but Conventional)

Clichés where the figurative meaning has completely overtaken the literal one.

Examples: 

    • Kick the bucket; 
    • Bite the dust; 
    • Burning the midnight oil; 
    • Let the cat out of the bag; 
    • Add insult to injury.

Function: Figurative idioms that once had imagery, now fixed as standard expressions.

6. Wisdom and Advice (Proverbial Clichés)

Old sayings offering moral or practical guidance.

Examples: 

    • A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush; 
    • The early bird catches the worm; 
    • You can’t judge a book by its cover; 
    • Every cloud has a silver lining.

Function: Encapsulates 'common sense' — once folk wisdom, now hackneyed.

7. Emotional or Sentimental Phrases

Expressions of feeling that have lost sincerity through repetition.

Examples: 

    • Follow your heart; 
    • Only time will tell; 
    • At the end of the day; 
    • Love conquers all.

Function: Shortcut for emotional weight; often signals cliché in writing.

8. Action/Resolution Clichés

Phrases about effort, success, or perseverance.

Examples: 

    • Go the extra mile; 
    • Give it your all; 
    • Take it one day at a time; 
    • Keep your chin up.

Function: Motivational, but formulaic.

9. Change

Phrases about change.

Examples:  

    • Old habits die hard; 
    • A leopard can't change its spots.
    • All good things must come to an end;
    • Out with the old, in with the new;
    • Change is in the air.

Function: Moving forward, not getting stuck in the past.