i got a letter from a japanese friend in australia today. she included a newspaper article with the headline:
"GRISLY FIND"
now how did she know this was one of my favourite cliches?
in australia, any discovery of human remains is a "grisly find" on the news.
firefighters always "don breathing apparatus".
any other favourite cliches?
I LOVED Rolling Stones leads to Smashing Pumpkins!
just thought of another one.
does anyone know why people in government are referred to as "drug czars" or "economic czars" in the newspapers?
what is the weirdest thing is when the media uses a really archaic word (like 'don') that no-one ever uses anymore but everyone is familiar with because they hear it on the news all the time. another example is 'melee' which football commentators persist in using to describe a fight. Anyone who has ever watched a football match knows what a melee is, but no-one would ever use it in everyday conversation.
> favourite clichés
I came across this site recently,which allows you to search or generate cliches in a databased style!
http://www.westegg.com/cliche/Hope you enjoy this, William.
This isn't exactly a cliche, william, but once I turned on the TV during the news, just in time to hear the anchorwoman (now there's a term I wouldn't mind learning the etymology of!), obviously reading the teleprompter, say, "The defendant was convicted of won ton endangerment".
in australia, any discovery of human remains is a "grisly find" on the news.
firefighters always "don breathing apparatus".
..... and people only ever get lost in "rugged bushland" in "near-freezing conditions"
anchorwoman (now there's a term I wouldn't mind learning the etymology of!),
Probably from Tug-of-War, Jackie m'dear. The chaps/chapess' at either end of the rope are called that, presumably because their functiion is to stop the team being dragged forward from their current position.