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Cliché

February 16, 2024

For other uses, see Cliché (disambiguation).

A cliché (UK: /ˈkliːʃeɪ/ or US: /kliːˈʃeɪ/) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel.[1] In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning, referring to an expression imposed by conventionalized linguistic usage.[2]

Extract from a cartoon by Priestman Atkinson, from the Punch Almanack for 1885, mocking clichéd expressions in the popular literature at the time

The term is often used in modern culture for an action or idea that is expected or predictable, based on a prior event. Typically pejorative, "clichés" may or may not be true.[3] Some are stereotypes, but some are simply truisms and facts.[4] Clichés often are employed for comedic effect, typically in fiction.

Most phrases now considered clichéd originally were regarded as striking but have lost their force through overuse.[5] The French poet Gérard de Nerval once said, "The first man who compared woman to a rose was a poet, the second, an imbecile."[6]

A cliché is often a vivid depiction of an abstraction that relies upon analogy or exaggeration for effect, often drawn from everyday experience.[7][8] Used sparingly, it may succeed, but the use of a cliché in writing, speech, or argument is generally considered a mark of inexperience or a lack of originality.

Etymology edit

The word cliché is borrowed from French, where it is a past passive participle of clicher, 'to click', used as a noun; cliché is attested from 1825 and originated in the printing trades.[9] The term cliché was adopted as printers' jargon to refer to a stereotype, electrotype, cast plate or block print that could reproduce type or images repeatedly.[10][9] It has been suggested that the word originated from the clicking sound in "dabbed" printing (a particular form of stereotyping in which the block was impressed into a bath of molten type-metal to form a matrix). Through this onomatopoeia, cliché came to mean a ready-made, oft-repeated phrase.[11]

Usage edit

 
Using a feature such as an overhanging branch to frame a nature scene[12] may be described as a visual cliché even though it also supplies scale.

Various dictionaries recognize a derived adjective clichéd, with the same meaning.[13][14][15][16] Cliché is sometimes used as an adjective,[14][15] although some dictionaries do not recognize it as such,[13][16] listing the word only as a noun and clichéd as the adjective.

Thought-terminating cliché edit

Main article: Thought-terminating cliché

Thought-terminating clichés, also known as thought-stoppers,[17] or semantic stopsigns,[18] are words or phrases that discourage critical thought and meaningful discussion about a given topic.[19] They are typically short, generic truisms that offer seemingly simple answers to complex questions or that distract attention away from other lines of thought.[19] They are often sayings that have been embedded in a culture's folk wisdom and are tempting to say because they sound true or good or like the right thing to say.[17] Some examples are: "Stop thinking so much",[20] "here we go again",[21] and "so what, what effect do my [individual] actions have?"[17]

The term was popularized by psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton in his 1961 book, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of "Brainwashing" in China.[19] Lifton wrote, "The language of the totalist environment is characterized by the thought-terminating cliché. The most far-reaching and complex of human problems are compressed into brief, highly reductive, definitive-sounding phrases, easily memorized and easily expressed. These become the start and finish of any ideological analysis".[22] Sometimes they are used in a deliberate attempt to shut down debate, manipulate others to think a certain way, or dismiss dissent. However, some people repeat them, even to themselves, out of habit or conditioning, or as a defense mechanism to reaffirm a confirmation bias.[17][23]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Gary Blake and Robert W. Bly, The Elements of Technical Writing, pg. 85. New York: Macmillan Publishers, 1993. ISBN 0020130856
  2. ^ "Cliché - Examples and Definition of Cliché as a writing device". Literary Devices. 2021-01-11. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  3. ^ Short Story Library Thick skin and writing, cliché, but true 2010-02-26 at the Wayback Machine - Published By Casey Quinn • May 10th, 2009 • Category: Casey's Corner
  4. ^ The Free Dictionary - Cliche
  5. ^ Mason, David; Nims, John Frederick (1999). Western Wind: An Introduction to Poetry. McGraw-Hill. pp. 126–127. ISBN 0-07-303180-1.
  6. ^ Quotations of Gérard de Nerval
  7. ^ Loewen, Nancy (2011). Talking Turkey and Other Clichés We Say. Capstone. p. 11. ISBN 978-1404862722.
  8. ^ "Definition of Cliché". Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  9. ^ a b "cliche". www.etymonline.com. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  10. ^ Westwood, Alison. The Little Book of Clichés. Canary Press eBooks. ISBN 1907795138.
  11. ^ Knight, Edward Henry (1881). Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary: A Description of Tools, Instruments, Machines, Processes, and Engineering; History of Inventions; General Technological Vocabulary; and Digest of Mechanical Appliances in Science and the Arts. Houghton, Mifflin.
  12. ^ Freeman, Michael (2004). Nature and Landscape Photography. Lark Books. p. 36. ISBN 1-57990-545-5. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
  13. ^ a b "cliche". . n.d. Archived from the original on 2005-01-09. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  14. ^ a b "cliché". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  15. ^ a b "cliché". Dictionary.com Unabridged. n.d. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  16. ^ a b Brown, Lesley, ed. (1993). "cliché". New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-861271-0.
  17. ^ a b c d Chiras, Daniel D. (1992), "Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in the Biology & Environmental Science Classrooms", The American Biology Teacher, 54 (8): 464–468, doi:10.2307/4449551, JSTOR 4449551
  18. ^ Yudkowsky, Eliezer (24 Aug 2007). "Semantic Stopsigns". Less Wrong. Retrieved 26 Aug 2018.
  19. ^ a b c Kathleen Taylor (27 July 2006). Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control. OUP Oxford. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-19-920478-6.
  20. ^ Morisy, Ann (2009), Bothered and Bewildered: Enacting Hope in Troubled Times, A&C Black, p. 29, ISBN 9781847064806, retrieved October 25, 2016
  21. ^ Clampitt, Phillip G.; Williams, M. Lee (Winter 2007), "Decision Downloading", MIT Sloan Management Review, vol. 48, no. 2, retrieved October 25, 2016
  22. ^ Lifton, Robert J. (1989). Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of Brainwashing in China. UNC Press. p. 429. ISBN 978-0-8078-4253-9.
  23. ^ Peterson, Britt (March 19, 2015), "Scientology's enturbulating lingo", Boston Globe, retrieved October 25, 2016

Further reading edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to clichés.
 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Cliché.
 
Look up cliché in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  • Anton C. Zijderveld (1979). On Clichés: The Supersedure of Meaning by Function in Modernity. Routledge. ISBN 9780710001863.
  • Margery Sabin (1987). "The Life of English Idiom, the Laws of French Cliché". The Dialect of the Tribe. Oxford University Press US. pp. 10–25. ISBN 9780195041538.
  • Veronique Traverso and Denise Pessah (Summer 2000). "Stereotypes et cliches: Langue, discours, societe". Poetics Today. Duke University Press. 21 (3): 463–465. doi:10.1215/03335372-21-2-463. S2CID 170839666.
  • Skorczewski, Dawn (December 2000). ""Everybody Has Their Own Ideas": Responding to Cliche in Student Writing". College Composition and Communication. 52 (2): 220–239. doi:10.2307/358494. JSTOR 358494.
  • Kochin, Michael (2023). "'Life as literature': Wright Morris's Love Among the Cannibals". Textual Practice. 37 (3): 357–372. doi:10.1080/0950236X.2022.2041713.
  • Ruth Amossy; Lyons (1982). Trans. Terese Lyons. "The Cliché in the Reading Process. Trans. Terese Lyons". SubStance. University of Wisconsin Press. 11 (2.35): 34–45. doi:10.2307/3684023. JSTOR 3684023.
  • Sullivan, Frank (1947) [1938]. "The Cliche Expert Testifies as a Roosevelt Hater". In Crane, Milton (ed.). The Roosevelt Era. New York: Boni and Gaer. pp. 237–242. OCLC 275967. Mr. Arbuthnot: No sir! Nobody is going to tell me how to run my business. Q: Mr. Arbuthnot, you sound like a Roosevelt hater. A: I certainly am. Q: In that case, perhaps you could give us an idea of some of the cliches your set is in the habit of using in speaking of Mr. Roosevelt ...

February 16, 2024
cliché, other, uses, disambiguation, cliché, element, artistic, work, saying, idea, that, become, overused, point, losing, original, meaning, effect, even, point, being, weird, irritating, especially, when, some, earlier, time, considered, meaningful, novel, p. For other uses see Cliche disambiguation A cliche UK ˈ k l iː ʃ eɪ or US k l iː ˈ ʃ eɪ is an element of an artistic work saying or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect even to the point of being weird or irritating especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel 1 In phraseology the term has taken on a more technical meaning referring to an expression imposed by conventionalized linguistic usage 2 Extract from a cartoon by Priestman Atkinson from the Punch Almanack for 1885 mocking cliched expressions in the popular literature at the timeThe term is often used in modern culture for an action or idea that is expected or predictable based on a prior event Typically pejorative cliches may or may not be true 3 Some are stereotypes but some are simply truisms and facts 4 Cliches often are employed for comedic effect typically in fiction Most phrases now considered cliched originally were regarded as striking but have lost their force through overuse 5 The French poet Gerard de Nerval once said The first man who compared woman to a rose was a poet the second an imbecile 6 A cliche is often a vivid depiction of an abstraction that relies upon analogy or exaggeration for effect often drawn from everyday experience 7 8 Used sparingly it may succeed but the use of a cliche in writing speech or argument is generally considered a mark of inexperience or a lack of originality Contents 1 Etymology 1 1 Usage 2 Thought terminating cliche 3 See also 4 References 5 Further readingEtymology editThe word cliche is borrowed from French where it is a past passive participle of clicher to click used as a noun cliche is attested from 1825 and originated in the printing trades 9 The term cliche was adopted as printers jargon to refer to a stereotype electrotype cast plate or block print that could reproduce type or images repeatedly 10 9 It has been suggested that the word originated from the clicking sound in dabbed printing a particular form of stereotyping in which the block was impressed into a bath of molten type metal to form a matrix Through this onomatopoeia cliche came to mean a ready made oft repeated phrase 11 Usage edit nbsp Using a feature such as an overhanging branch to frame a nature scene 12 may be described as a visual cliche even though it also supplies scale Various dictionaries recognize a derived adjective cliched with the same meaning 13 14 15 16 Cliche is sometimes used as an adjective 14 15 although some dictionaries do not recognize it as such 13 16 listing the word only as a noun and cliched as the adjective Thought terminating cliche editMain article Thought terminating cliche Thought terminating cliches also known as thought stoppers 17 or semantic stopsigns 18 are words or phrases that discourage critical thought and meaningful discussion about a given topic 19 They are typically short generic truisms that offer seemingly simple answers to complex questions or that distract attention away from other lines of thought 19 They are often sayings that have been embedded in a culture s folk wisdom and are tempting to say because they sound true or good or like the right thing to say 17 Some examples are Stop thinking so much 20 here we go again 21 and so what what effect do my individual actions have 17 The term was popularized by psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton in his 1961 book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism A Study of Brainwashing in China 19 Lifton wrote The language of the totalist environment is characterized by the thought terminating cliche The most far reaching and complex of human problems are compressed into brief highly reductive definitive sounding phrases easily memorized and easily expressed These become the start and finish of any ideological analysis 22 Sometimes they are used in a deliberate attempt to shut down debate manipulate others to think a certain way or dismiss dissent However some people repeat them even to themselves out of habit or conditioning or as a defense mechanism to reaffirm a confirmation bias 17 23 See also editArchetype Bromide language Catchphrase Figure of speech Idiom I m entitled to my opinion Irreversible binomial Kitsch List of English idioms on Wiktionary Meme Shitposting Platitude Pun Slogan Snowclone Speech Stock character Thoughts and prayers Category TropesReferences edit Gary Blake and Robert W Bly The Elements of Technical Writing pg 85 New York Macmillan Publishers 1993 ISBN 0020130856 Cliche Examples and Definition of Cliche as a writing device Literary Devices 2021 01 11 Retrieved 2021 09 30 Short Story Library Thick skin and writing cliche but true Archived 2010 02 26 at the Wayback Machine Published By Casey Quinn May 10th 2009 Category Casey s Corner The Free Dictionary Cliche Mason David Nims John Frederick 1999 Western Wind An Introduction to Poetry McGraw Hill pp 126 127 ISBN 0 07 303180 1 Quotations of Gerard de Nerval Loewen Nancy 2011 Talking Turkey and Other Cliches We Say Capstone p 11 ISBN 978 1404862722 Definition of Cliche Retrieved 3 January 2014 a b cliche www etymonline com Online Etymology Dictionary Retrieved 19 May 2019 Westwood Alison The Little Book of Cliches Canary Press eBooks ISBN 1907795138 Knight Edward Henry 1881 Knight s American Mechanical Dictionary A Description of Tools Instruments Machines Processes and Engineering History of Inventions General Technological Vocabulary and Digest of Mechanical Appliances in Science and the Arts Houghton Mifflin Freeman Michael 2004 Nature and Landscape Photography Lark Books p 36 ISBN 1 57990 545 5 Retrieved 2009 07 02 a b cliche The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language Fourth Edition n d Archived from the original on 2005 01 09 Retrieved 2010 10 21 a b cliche Merriam Webster Online Dictionary 2010 Retrieved 2010 02 21 a b cliche Dictionary com Unabridged n d Retrieved 2010 02 21 a b Brown Lesley ed 1993 cliche New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Clarendon Press ISBN 0 19 861271 0 a b c d Chiras Daniel D 1992 Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in the Biology amp Environmental Science Classrooms The American Biology Teacher 54 8 464 468 doi 10 2307 4449551 JSTOR 4449551 Yudkowsky Eliezer 24 Aug 2007 Semantic Stopsigns Less Wrong Retrieved 26 Aug 2018 a b c Kathleen Taylor 27 July 2006 Brainwashing The Science of Thought Control OUP Oxford p 21 ISBN 978 0 19 920478 6 Morisy Ann 2009 Bothered and Bewildered Enacting Hope in Troubled Times A amp C Black p 29 ISBN 9781847064806 retrieved October 25 2016 Clampitt Phillip G Williams M Lee Winter 2007 Decision Downloading MIT Sloan Management Review vol 48 no 2 retrieved October 25 2016 Lifton Robert J 1989 Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism A Study of Brainwashing in China UNC Press p 429 ISBN 978 0 8078 4253 9 Peterson Britt March 19 2015 Scientology s enturbulating lingo Boston Globe retrieved October 25 2016Further reading edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to cliches nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Cliche nbsp Look up cliche in Wiktionary the free dictionary Anton C Zijderveld 1979 On Cliches The Supersedure of Meaning by Function in Modernity Routledge ISBN 9780710001863 Margery Sabin 1987 The Life of English Idiom the Laws of French Cliche The Dialect of the Tribe Oxford University Press US pp 10 25 ISBN 9780195041538 Veronique Traverso and Denise Pessah Summer 2000 Stereotypes et cliches Langue discours societe Poetics Today Duke University Press 21 3 463 465 doi 10 1215 03335372 21 2 463 S2CID 170839666 Skorczewski Dawn December 2000 Everybody Has Their Own Ideas Responding to Cliche in Student Writing College Composition and Communication 52 2 220 239 doi 10 2307 358494 JSTOR 358494 Kochin Michael 2023 Life as literature Wright Morris s Love Among the Cannibals Textual Practice 37 3 357 372 doi 10 1080 0950236X 2022 2041713 Ruth Amossy Lyons 1982 Trans Terese Lyons The Cliche in the Reading Process Trans Terese Lyons SubStance University of Wisconsin Press 11 2 35 34 45 doi 10 2307 3684023 JSTOR 3684023 Sullivan Frank 1947 1938 The Cliche Expert Testifies as a Roosevelt Hater In Crane Milton ed The Roosevelt Era New York Boni and Gaer pp 237 242 OCLC 275967 Mr Arbuthnot No sir Nobody is going to tell me how to run my business Q Mr Arbuthnot you sound like a Roosevelt hater A I certainly am Q In that case perhaps you could give us an idea of some of the cliches your set is in the habit of using in speaking of Mr Roosevelt Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cliche amp oldid 1205035797, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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