My apologies to those of you who visit here. As you can see from the date of the last entry, I've been notably remiss in keeping up. I shall endeavor not to let that happen again.
Recently, I was learning about the history of the word: cliché. It's origins are French and it is related to the early printing presses. Early printing presses used movable type, in which they needed to change each letter's position for every new page. The alternative was to manufacture a fixed plate called a stereotype that would have a fixed phrase that could be used over and over to save time. This fixed phrase or plate was called a cliché.
Cliché is ubiquitous. Whether we are using email, text messages or even just chatting the cliché is everywhere. The simple convenience of the cliché is just too overwhelming for us moderns. Do you think we need to “stem the tide” (cliché) or should we just “go with the flow” (another cliché). Are we capable anymore of expressing ourselves without falling into cliche?
2 comments:
A friend told me many years ago that "talking is an art", which is inspiring!
if we keep that in mind would proabably be easier to avoid too common ways of expressing by treating every word coming from our mouths as a work of an art.
It's hard but worth doing it. After all, true artists are admirable, and who doesnt want to be admired even just a little? Let's all work hard on that. :)
I couldn't agree more! I also believe that expressing oneself in words is an art, but so often today people defer to stock expressions, sound bites and clips. Speed and efficiency guide our speech patterns instead of musicality. It's very distressing because it makes for a very blase world.
- Paul
Post a Comment