En Words

A place to talk about words - whether from books, stories, magazines, brochures, or matchbook covers.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Quick! Get Me a Cliché!

The next time you decide to ignore writing advice from the likes of George Orwell or Strunk and White and fully embrace the linguistic mediocrity of clichés that is our right (and we all do it sometimes), don't worry if you find yourself out of stock. Cliché Finder us a web site with over 3,300 sayings indexed for quick access. But one person's cliché could be another's unique expression. For example, here's what popped up when I searched for night:
    ships that pass in the night
    Saturday-night special
    fly-by-night
    dead of night
    burn the midnight oil
    midnight is where the day begins
    a wet bird never flies at night
    I wouldn't send a dog out on a night like this
    under cover of night
    I was born at night, but not last night
    if you expect to soar with the eagles during the day, you can't hoot with the owls at night
    pull an all-nighter
    things that go bump in the night
    worked night and day
    kept me up all night long
    Good Night, sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite.
    dance the night away
    the night of all nights
    a night of passion
    like a thief in the night
    in the heat of the night
    boys night out
A wet bird never flies at night? Who would have guessed?

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