Tired of cliches, trite expressions and hackneyed phrases? Perhaps knowing the fascinating origins of “cliche,” “trite” and “hackneyed” will make the worn-out language they denote more bearable. Or ...

There is no absolute line that divides the clichés that warrant a slap of the ruler on the desk and phrases that work just fine given the context. But lexicographer Orin Hargraves has written a new ...

As a professor of bioethics, I strive to teach my students that clear writing fosters clear thinking. But as I was grading a stack of blue books today, I discovered so many clichés that I couldn't ...

Over the next few months, Poynter will publish shortened versions of 21 chapters of the book “Help! for Writers,” by Roy Peter Clark. Published by Little, Brown, the book lists common problems writers ...

Any writing expert will tell you: If you want to get your message across, avoid clichés. The problem is, no one seems to know what, exactly, a cliché is. Is it an overused sentence like “The grass is ...

When my daughter was learning to read and write, we used to have fun Googling the origin and exact definition of overused phrases and clichés, such as “raining cats and dogs,” “tip of the iceberg,” ...

Do you hear what we hear? It’s The Times’s annual reminder to avoid overused holiday phrases. Credit...César Debargue Supported by By Mathew Brownstein Mathew Brownstein is a senior news assistant on ...