It appears the more we discuss about the fussiness of clichés in modern English, the larger they loom. But the masters and purists of the language of mass communication, and still expanding, are never deterred to point them out to guide the people not to fall on the wrong side or stumble along the line. English language, like any other widely accepted dialect is littered with booby traps or pitfalls and blind spots that only those with deeper knowledge and understanding of the language could detect. As we launch into the countdown to the 50 most abused clichés, it is advisable, for a better understanding of the issue, to begin to analyse and dissect them if there are other alternatives to stop sounding like a broken record- there goes another of the over flogged cliché (sounding like a broken record), by repeatedly using the old English or tired metaphor to solidly establish one’s arguments. A total ban or break away from primitive English is out of it, as lovers of pun may once in a while deep into them to amuse us and to remind followers of the language of the “good old days.” Students of the time would vividly recall how towering figures such as the English poet and author, Geoffrey Chaucer and the like shook the world with their archaic English. Then, like so many of us, except for the die-hard English literature students, at least at the advanced level of learning, who decided to face the challenge, the Shakespearian English, for instance, was scary to some who quickly abandoned the subject for other liberal courses written and taught in plain and modern English.
If I am correct, I think the old English still holds sway in some of the literature books, especially for drama and poetry used at the secondary and tertiary levels of education. Perhaps, to emphasise the dangers of outright breakaway from the past, we still need to preserve, and sometimes look back to understand the future, as those in favour of protecting our cherished heritage would argue. And now talking about clichés and worn out expressions, “not far-fetched” and “if and when due.” The statements, “not far-fetched” and “if and when due” were at a time the delight of many writers; even as at the time of writing this piece, still the favourite choice of secretaries in government offices, “if and when due,” for example phrase. This crop of educated elite just bluntly refused to see reasons to drop the overused statement and go for something else, and more dignifying. The English pragmatist maintains that “if and when due” statement is old fashioned. “When” is rather preferred. In the same fashion, the expression, “as and when due” should be discarded for “when due,” the modern usage. The “not far-fetched” statement has suffered a great deal in the hands of users of the language. Most of us are guilty of it. We don’t think any more for the reason that many of us are stuck to the dangerously familiar “not far-fetched” phrase to the neglect of the more potent, penetrating and shorter “far to seek” or “far to find” expression. It is a direct and easy to grasp statement. As one of the English purist rightly observed, “far-fetched,” meaning “exaggeration or lacking credibility,” is a formal idiom, and absolute. For example, Joe told me some far-fetched story about climbing the Kilimanjaro when he was 15. We correctly say or write: The reasons are not far to seek or far to find, the language master insists. Keep a date with us as we count down to the 50 clichés still in vogue, even then, they have outlived their usefulness in modern English.
