What’s in a Cliche?

What’s in a Cliché? – Yesterday’s Quote, Today’s Cliché

By Mr. Ghaz, September 12, 2009

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What’s in a Cliché? – Yesterday’s Quote, Today’s Cliché

Most of us use clichés – phrases that are convenient because they describe in a graphic or shorthand way a particular meaning we wish to convey. However, many people regard clichés as indication of lazy thinking or writing because they are overused. In fact, clichés have become so much a part of the English language; often the original sources are forgotten.

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Some clichés derive from proverbs or popular sayings, while others are of literary origin. An additional group of clichés comes from writers or famous people whose words or reported sayings have become part of everyday speech.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

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These six words appeared in print for the first time in an anonymous poem that was published in A Poetical Rhapsody, a collection of “divers sonnets, odes, elegies, madrigals, and other poesies.” The book was printed in 1602 by two English brothers, Francis and Walter Davidson. The sentiment achieved the status of a cliché when, early in the 19th century, it was used in a popular song, “Isle of Beauty,” by Thomas Haynes Bayly.

And So to Bed

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Samuel Pepys often used this phrase to sign off entries in his Diary, which he kept from 1660 until 1669. It came into common usage in the 19th century, when the special system of handwriting that Pepys used was deciphered.

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