Cliches

It's So Clichйd

"She sat down to write her paper without batting an eyelash." This sentence contains an example of what is called an idiom. Idioms are individual forms of expression specific to one language. They can be thought of as a group of two or more words that together mean something different from the literal meaning of the individual words. "Without batting an eyelash" means to be passive, or show no interest in an event or situation. This phrase first appeared in the early 1900's."Batting", used in this phrase, was intended to mean "blinking". If a person is so cool and calm that they do not even blink when confronted with something unusual, they there is no outward show of emotion. "Without batting an eyelash" is just one of about ten thousand idiomatic expressions!

Idioms are said to appear in every language. Some of ours have even originated elsewhere. Our English idioms can be quite confusing to a foreigner since the meaning of them, as previously noted, may have little or nothing to do with the meanings of the words taken one by one. An example of this is the phrase "let the cat out of the bag". While today that means to reveal a secret, a hundred years ago the phrase actually meant to let a cat out of a bag. Foreigners may find that to fully understand our language, they will have to understand our idioms.

The use of idioms dates as far back as biblical times, and can come from something as random as horse racing. Many authors throughout history have made up idioms to liven up their writings. These authors were popular, so the words they wrote became equally popular. Some examples of these authors are Homer, Aesop, Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare.

Word experts have difficulty with agreeing on the exact origins of our idioms, but it is said that some came from Native American customs and others from African-American speech. Some have become popular because they rhyme, or because they contain alliteration. There are idioms that originated as colloquialisms (informal speech), some as slang (casual, playful, non-standard language) and there are those that were well-known proverbs or adages (short passages that express practical, basic truths).

An overused idiom or phrase is referred to as a clichй. A clichй has the reputation of being a once fresh and original expression that is now old and too commonplace. While many times this reputation is upheld, if one pays close enough attention to their phrasing, clichйs can serve as the basis of their language. An example of proper use of clichй could be columnist George Wills comment on the fact that the fans of the Chicago Cubs support their team through "thick and thin".

While there are many clichйs heard today, many of them so common that we may not even think about it when we hear or read it, there are still some not-so-common idioms. Some that have not become too clichйd include these phrases; "Air your dirty laundry in public", "Ax to grind", "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts", "Call you on the carpet", "Drop you like a hot potato", "Gone to pot", "Ignorance is bliss", "Mum's the word", "Pull the Wool over your eyes", "Red Herring", "Straighten up and fly right", "What's good for the goose is good for the gander" and "Word of mouth".

A quarreling pair or group of people talking about their disagreements or embarrassing issues in public are referred to as "Airing their dirty laundry in public" whereas 'to air' means to discuss thing aloud where anyone can here and 'dirty laundry' would be intimate details one would not normally share.

Having an "ax to grind" is not a good thing. It is a form of flattery one uses to gain something for a selfish reason. One would flatter and thus trick another in order to get a favor from them. This originated in the early 1800's when a man wrote a story in a newspaper about how, when he was a boy, a man used flattery to trick him into sharpening the man's ax. The catch was that the boy was not paid for his heavy grinding and was actually scolded for being lazy and missing school that day. I think people today "have an ax to grind" without even noticing it at times. Even working in retail I see examples of this, possibly from an employee complimenting on the look of an item on a customer in order to get them to purchase the item.

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts! In the famous story of the Trojan War, the Aeneid, a great Roman writer by the name of Virgil said to beware of Greeks giving gifts. The reason for this was because for ten years during the Trojan War, the Greek army tried hopelessly to take over the city of Troy. Finally they were successful and this happened when they pretended to sail back to Greece while leaving a huge wooden horse as a gift for the Trojans. The Trojans then brought it inside there city, and while they were sleeping they were invaded by the many Greek soldiers hiding in the empty belly of the Trojan horse.

"I'm afraid if I don't finish this project correctly my professor will 'call me on the carpet'". The idiom used here, "Call you on the carpet" means to be called upon and receive an admonishment from an authority figure. This originated in Britain households in the 1800's that had hired help. When these maids and servants were to be called by their masters into the parlor, they would usually have to walk from the servants corridors, down a carpeted hallway. The same goes for an unlucky employee nowadays awaiting criticism from a boss. Today when the idiom is used, it does not necessarily have to be a carpeted area that one is walking on, but the "carpet" part stuck.

Another popular idiom is "Drop you like a hot potato". Meaning to quickly expel of something undesired or dangerous, the phrase originated in the early 19th century when a writer used it as a simile. Naturally, if someone handed you a hot potato, you'd have to drop it quickly or else you would burn your hand. This is equivalent to a harmful idea being planned and disposed of.

When something gets worse and worse or becomes destroyed, it can be said that it has "gone to pot." This idiom is from the 1500's and initially pertained to the old or weak animals at the time which could no longer breed, lay eggs, give milk or pull wagons. These animals would be slaughtered and then cooked in a pot. So if a person or thing nowadays has worn out or can't to it's job anymore, it has either