As I posted a couple of weeks back, writers these days are urged to avoid overworked idioms. Trouble is, it can be a real challenge to think of an interesting way of restating an old and weary cliché.
For instance, a writer could replace, “It was raining cats and dogs” with “It was a heavy downpour,” and be accurate, but not so eloquent. “It was raining stars and planets” might sound like overkill. Readers’ minds might automatically jump to the idiom you’re trying to replace. I’ve had that happen. It was so obvious that my mind went back to the original and the substitute sounded phony.
At a writers’ group meeting a few years back we were given some well-used idioms and were to suggest a substitute. I posted one on Feb 22nd, now here’s another for you to consider and offer suggestions:
He/ she/ it was “as old as the hills.”
Some suggested replacements:
Sticking to fact:
— “He’d made his four score and ten.”
— “She was the senior member in her nursing home.”
— “He was an octogenarian.”
More figurative:
— “He goes back to spats and top hats.”
— “That idea was around when Shakespeare was a scholar.”
— “That thing’s been around since Longfellow was a lad.” (If you prefer an American notable.)
Do you have any suggestions for replacements or have you read any that struck you as worthy of note?
I have so much trouble with avoiding cliches. It’s the hardest thing I face when writing
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So many expressions have become a priceless part of our language and can hardly be replaced or avoided. I don’t worry that much about using idioms, or cliches, but then, I’m a stick-in-the-mud. 🙂
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I try to take a cliche and play with it, sometimes with more success than others
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When I worked at Doubleday, we collected cliches. I was writing for the “Romance Library” and I was always in urgent need of one more cliche that expressed “whirlwind romance.” I have pages tacked to my worlds with lists of cliches. Those were the good old days 🙂
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Now that’s really interesting! I can believe how needful new expressions would be. I’ve been reading book blurbs and can’t tell you how many say, “This is a story about love and second chances.” Sometimes “family” thrown in the mix.
Thank you for reading and for your comments. I feel honored that someone who actually worked for a publisher is reading my blog. 🙂
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