The New Catalogue of Cliche

frogus · Post by **frogus** » Sun Apr 21, 2002 3:13 pm

Right...here is a space for all you literati, tired and bitter at the butchering of your beloved English language by the hands of the filthy proles...It is a space for professional and technical jargon, cliches and meaningless words, drained of life...
please get angry...what really makes you wish you were the wielder of a fabled Word-A-Day Calendar of Infinite Adjectives +4? or Resonant Katana of Correctly Used Grammar+3?

so to start us off, why can a 'lunatic' not be anything but 'raving'?
I bet you've never heard a lunatic described as docile, nor any other term apart from that appaling malediction 'raving'...

and from that, why is it impossible to 'rave' without having 'ranted' before hand? Why is the publics imagination so saturated with cliche that it cannot even imagine someone, ranting, and just ranting, without forcing that person to be 'ranting and raving'?

Robnark · Post by **Robnark** » Sun Apr 21, 2002 3:26 pm

and from that, why is it impossible to 'rave' without having 'ranted' before hand? Why is the publics imagination so saturated with cliche that it cannot even imagine someone, ranting, and just ranting, without forcing that person to be 'ranting and raving'?

speaking of ranting and raving...

also, why can't a mad person rave without being 'stark'? hence, 'stark raving mad'. i have never heard the term used elsewhere.

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Sun Apr 21, 2002 5:28 pm

Sadly, all of my cliches would be forum violations, thus cannot speak them.

crazymancometh · Post by **crazymancometh** » Sun Apr 21, 2002 11:55 pm

It has to get worse, before it gets better.. why must it get worse?

All's well that ends well ......really?

An ax to grind ....why not a hoe or shovel?

Bald faced liar.....what is bald face?

Boys will be boys .... well lets hope so.

Thats just a few cliches that irk me.

fable · Post by **fable** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 12:00 am

Only "bald-faced liar" is a cliche in that group. The rest are sayings. Think of sayings as being "folk wisdom." Cliches, however, are common coinage that's been debased.

Beldin · Post by **Beldin** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 1:54 am

How about "Wise old men" for a clichè ?

There's a lot of dumb old farts out there....(and with old I mean OLD - not temporarily advanced like fable for example. I'm talking about those guys who are making life tough for anyone below the age of 80...)

No worries,

Beldin

Gruntboy · Post by **Gruntboy** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 2:33 am

Cliche: "we don't make the news, we just report it"
And: "We don't mould public opinion, we inform it"

When will the media stop believing its own propaganda and just pup its hands up and say "yes, we are merely another tool of mass population control, we admit it".

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 5:01 am

Originally posted by fable
Only "bald-faced liar" is a cliche in that group. The rest are sayings. Think of sayings as being "folk wisdom." Cliches, however, are common coinage that's been debased.

Alright then, baldy, give us some examples.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 5:11 am

Originally posted by Gruntboy
Cliche: "we don't make the news, we just report it"
And: "We don't mould public opinion, we inform it"

When will the media stop believing its own propaganda and just pup its hands up and say "yes, we are merely another tool of mass population control, we admit it".

Couldn't agree more, nice choice Grunt

Morlock · Post by **Morlock** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 5:11 am

"Head over heals in love"- most people I know are already like that.

"Drunk like a skunk"- Who's ever seen a drunk skunk?

Baldursgate Fan · Post by **Baldursgate Fan** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 5:18 am

"... and you can stand a chance to win a free gift!"

The tautology never fails to drive me up the wall.

fable · Post by **fable** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 8:51 am

Originally posted by Aegis
Alright then, baldy, give us some examples.

Baldy? I'll have you know I have quite a bit of hair left. And I'm saving what falls out over time to blow in your face after I die.

I'm looking forward to noumenal existence. No haircuts, no toothbrushes.

Cliches? Let's see. "Moneyback guaranteed." I've seen that advertised in stores that will only provide credit towards a next purchase. It's become a merchandising technique that no longer has any content. "It isn't the temperature, it's the humidity." This isn't a saying. It's a phrase used by a secret society of gray mediocrities who exchange non-information in an attempt to find one another. Then there are cliches in art reviews: "ZZZ has embedded complex questions in their work, forming a paradigm of humanity in our deconstructionist times." Ugh.

And movie cliches...! The hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold. The hardnosed, rich sophisticate just waiting to be saved by love. The white, uptight American suburban family that goes to pieces when exposed to a gay couple. The thinking computers out to rule humankind. The lone nobody with a great ancestry who rises to challenge Enormous Evil successfully. Cliches, one and all.

Jace · Post by **Jace** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 8:58 am

The wize old mentor/moderator? Just a question.

fable · Post by **fable** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 9:01 am

Originally posted by Jace
The wize old mentor/moderator? Just a question.

No, that's an oxymoron. Like "generous banker," "honest politician," and "intelligent newbie."

Jace · Post by **Jace** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 9:12 am

Point conceded. But which are the opposites - Wize and Old or Wize and Moderator?

frogus · Post by **frogus** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 9:53 am

why must the gifts given to a retiring business-man always be 'a small token of [his coleagues] esteem'? Why may he not be given a large token of their esteem? Or even a small token of their gratitude? It's a travisty, and when I retire I will accept no such hog-wash.

Why must 'proceedings' always 'terminate'? Why can proceedings never 'end', or simply 'stop'?

Why must wit be 'dry'? What has this adjective to do with humour? and if it has only a metaphorical relation, why can't someone invent a new metaphor for wit?

When moving on from a subject of conversation, why must one move 'swiftly' on? Can one not be satisfied with entering a new field of discussion wich may detract from the numbing inanity of one's usual dull discourse without commenting on that very act, and what's more, commenting on it with empty cliches?

and to finish us off, why must a proffessional man be 'outstabding in his field', if he is to be outstanding at all? Can he not be outstanding in all fields? No. What if he was only mediocre in 'his field', but stood out (none-the-less)? Sorry to have asked...

Why can gunmen and soldiers not have gunfights? Why can they not shoot each other? Why must they always always either be 'involved in exchanges', or 'engaged in violent exchanges'? Is their suffering not great enough without being appalingly mal-reported to the pseudo-literate (swine-eating) middle-classes?

()please excuse cliches.

fable · Post by **fable** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 9:58 am

Originally posted by Jace
Point conceded. But which are the opposites - Wize and Old or Wize and Moderator?

It's "wise," and I suspect the opposite would be neither old nor moderator, but clueless.

Baldursgate Fan · Post by **Baldursgate Fan** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 10:28 am

@Frogus

Speaking of cliches, I guess when we enter the rate race, climb the greasy pole, scale the corporate ladder, we need to be more politically correct, specifically our choice of words.

I long for the days when we can just call a spade a spade, ie be children.

Witch King · Post by **Witch King** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 10:30 am

Originally posted by fable
Only "bald-faced liar" is a cliche in that group. The rest are sayings. Think of sayings as being "folk wisdom." Cliches, however, are common coinage that's been debased.

Push your glasses up fable.

Gruntboy · Post by **Gruntboy** » Wed Apr 24, 2002 2:39 am

People rarely die - they buy it, pass away, are gone or at rest or peace, etc.