[yottalove]

In the 1990’s I compiled a rather large set of cliches and stock phrases intended to help users avoid them in their writing.

I later discovered the compilation was in demand to help users accurately select their cliche of choice—exactly the opposite of my intent.

Decades later I am content that these widely used catchphrases are not damaging our language since they have a broader semiotic purpose of, for example, to show tribal affiliation, e.g., “diamond hands,” and not merely a basket of denotative glyphs.

But that is not to say that a writer is not enriching the language by using a fresh metaphor that adds another sharp facet or just the right amount of bokeh ambiguity to the discussion.