That is such a cliche!

AT one time or another, you would have heard someone say, “Ah... that’s such a cliche”. ‘Cliche’ is a French word, which is also used in English. The word cliche essentially means an overused expression or an idea which has lost its originality and is no longer interesting or effective.

When a person behaves in a predictable manner, it means his behaviour is a cliche. Something that has become too common because it is overdone, is also a cliche. a phrase or opinion that is overused and shows a lack of original thought ‘At the end of the day’ is a cliche that comes up a lot in speeches or lectures. It means that you have given considerations to many things before deciding that nothing else can be done.

Example:

“We talked about her problem and I advised her accordingly, but at the end of the day, it’s her decision.”

We can replace this in a less cliched way. Replace “at the end of the day” with ‘finally’ or just to get rid of it altogether; as with many modern cliches, you will often find that the sentence works just as well without it. The meaning of the phrase ‘to be honest’ is ‘to tell you the truth’. You would wonder what the speaker had been doing up to now or prior to this point. This is one of the most overused expressions in the English language. Moreover, it does not add much to the rest of the sentence.

Example:

“To be honest, I never thought it was a good idea.”

It is used to signify the fact that the speaker is talking frankly, but it is rather odd because it implies that the speaker is not being honest the rest of the time. Since this expression is really just padding and used by the speaker mainly to make themselves sound more important, most of the time you will find that the sentence stands on its own without the phrase. When people are trying to express the fact that they intend to give their maximum effort to something, they often say: “I will give it 110 per cent”.

It is an exaggeration that we hear when competitors in a race or performance shows say:

“A win today will secure a spot for me in the semi-finals. I am going out there and give 110 per cent!”

Another context is as follows when one person is absolutely certain.

Adrian : Are you certain?

Suresh : 110 per cent!

Sometimes in the workplace, employees use it to impress their boss with their “110 per cent commitment” to a project.

110 per cent is a percentage increase; in any other situation, there’s no such thing. It is impossible, because a whole is 100 per cent.

If you really want to express your commitment to something as a percentage, then you should say, “100 per cent”, but you could also avoid this altogether. If you want other words to use instead, you could use something like “you can count on me” or “I assure you that I will give my full attention”. Moving on to slightly older and more interesting cliches, the phrase “until the cows come home” is used to signify a very long period of time, particularly in the context of carrying out an unsuccessful or futile task. An example of its use is:

“You may try to give excuses until the cows come home, but I will still not trust you.”

The expression is of Scottish origin. It refers to the fact that the cattle grazing on the highlands stay out all summer, devouring themselves on the abundant grass, until they run out of food in the autumn and return home. This expression has probably been around for hundreds of years. Although by definition a cliche is overused, many writers use cliches to convey their meaning to their readers.

When you use idioms or cliches in your written or spoken English, it somehow demonstrates your understanding of the language. Apart from that, it helps you sound like a native-speaker. We could still use some common cliches that are often used in English writing and speaking. • We use this phrase when we are introducing people or things. You could be talking to a crowd of people and then introduce a vocalist, saying: “It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you — Siti!” This phrase is polite and used even if we are not actually happy to see this person or introduce them. So while you may not actually like Siti, it would be a convention to introduce her in this way anyway. Often we spend our time to chase a “greener” pasture. We will never take the time to appreciate all the beauty that already surrounds us when we are constantly focusing on how things could be better. This cliche is perhaps the only one that is as much a fact as it is a cliche. The only moment in time that we have the opportunity to live in and do anything is in fact the present!

Some of us spend so much of our time thinking about the past and the future that we can do absolutely nothing about. There’s nothing we can do to change the past as it is done with; and whatever future we are imagining in our heads may not come true. There is no time like the present because the only one that is actually real, and the only one that deserves our attention is the present moment. This is an interesting cliche. People tend to use it in speech when they are giving a number of examples. For instance, you could be talking about the benefits of studying abroad, like making new friends, learning a new language, getting to know another culture and “the list goes on”. It’s another way to say ‘etcetera’.

As you will become accustomed to the use of cliches, you may interpret them in your own way. You may accept or reject their meanings, and, even create a few cliches of your own.