Macmillan Holdings, LLC. Grammar Girl, Grammar Girl's, QDnow, and Quick and Dirty Tips are all trademarks of Macmillan Holdings, LLC. Enlist the anti-cliché. Charles grammar muhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha its so french http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=20832#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=20832#Comments Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:44:58 GMT Gwen grammar My pet peeve via cliche: "At the end of the day" To quote a certain SC governor, "At the end of the day it was a love story." Hurt me now! http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=20086#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=20086#Comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:28:14 GMT rosa grammar I'd still like to know how to punctuate cliches/proverbs in fictional text ... with or without quotes? I'm guessing without since they're common? ... (I'm copy editing a string of "death" cliches, e.g., kicked the bucket, crossed the bar, took the big sleep, etc.) Thanks! http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=17607#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=17607#Comments Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:01:09 GMT Louise grammar My husband always "get his knickers in a twist" when he hears clichés being used. I don't agree. Although I understand the arguments presented above, I find that clichés give spoken language colour and humour. It would be a shame to eliminate them altogether. I suppose you could argue, as Henry wrote in his comment, that clichés are acceptable in speech, but not appropriate for original writing. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=16461#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=16461#Comments Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:29:46 GMT Pauli grammar Mr. Truman's name should be written as "Harry S Truman" rather than "Harry S. Truman", as "S" is his middle name. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=15248#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=15248#Comments Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:15:26 GMT henry grammar Avoiding the use of cliches in writing makes perfect sense because not only are they overly used, they're often colloquial too. But listeners should know that using "cliches" in everyday speech are perfectly fine too. We hear "what goes around comes around" and "selling like hotcakes" all the time. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=14637#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=14637#Comments Fri, 07 Nov 2008 09:30:20 GMT danea Cowell grammar Who are these idiots who bag the cliche ? They are the same type of fools who say "sarcasm is the lowest form of wit". Its the highest form of wit. It's only the slowminded artless fools who say otherwise. Because they can't respond. Same for cliches. If you arent good enough to use them you shoulnt be writing at all http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=13581#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=13581#Comments Fri, 22 Aug 2008 06:18:50 GMT Elias Hiebert grammar "Back in the day" has been in use since the 80s at least. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=13448#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=13448#Comments Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:24:43 GMT aardvark grammar I am always gentle with my little aardvarks about their attempt to use figurative language. Encouraging young writers to express themselves with metaphor and simile is important. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=13358#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=13358#Comments Fri, 08 Aug 2008 02:10:06 GMT Judy Wright grammar The one that "frosts my cookies" is "tip of the iceberg." http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=13350#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx?commentid=13350#Comments Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:36:03 GMT Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:44:58 GMT http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-avoid-cliches.aspx feedback@quickanddirtytips.com (Managing Editor) feedback@quickanddirtytips.com (Webmaster) en-us