Economist Style Guide - Redress Information & Analysis

clerical titles see titles.
clerical titles > clichés
clichés It would be quixotic to try to banish all clichés, and silly: a
phrase often becomes a cliché precisely because it does its job
rather well – at fi rst. It is then copied so often and so unthinkingly
that the reader wearies of it, and groans. In his “A Dictionary of
Clichés” (1940), Eric Partridge wrote: “Clichés range from fl yblown
phrases (much of a muchness; to all intents and purposes),
metaphors that are now pointless (lock, stock and barrel), formulas
that have become mere counters (far be it from me to…) – through
sobriquets that have lost all their freshness and most of their
signifi cance (the Iron Duke) – to quotations that are nauseating
(cups that cheer but not inebriate), and foreign phrases that are tags
(longo intervallo, bête noire).”
In truth, many of yesterday’s clichés have become so much
a part of the language that they pass unnoticed; they are like
Orwell’s dead metaphors. The ones most to be avoided are the
latest, the trendiest. Since they usually appeal to people who do
not have the energy to pick their own words, they are often found
in the wooden prose of bureaucrats, academics and businessmen,
though journalese is far from immune.
Can you speak the language of New Citizenship? asked an
advertisement placed by the British Home Offi ce recently. It had
just set up a board to “advise on ways in which existing language
and citizenship education resources and support services might
be developed”, and was looking for a “Vice Chair and 13 Board
members to help progress the challenging agenda that [lay] ahead”.
The advertisement went on, not surprisingly, to mention overall
strategic leadership, effective governance, a board fully focused
on delivery, a record of signifi cant achievement in the Academic,
Education, Voluntary or Business Sectors, a keen interest in integration
and community cohesion, those experienced in social cohesion and
the need for strong interpersonal skills.
A short article written by four European politicians for the
International Herald Tribune (July 3rd 2004) was in much the
same vein. It contained an ambitious strategy, reform process,
send a message, momentum for structural economic reform back
on track, important impulse, signifi cant challenges, immediate and
fundamental reforms, relocating operations, meet the competitiveness
challenge proactively, focus of reform efforts, social cohesion and
environmental sustainability, a number of key issues, innovative
(twice), latest knowledge, excessively burdensome rules, knowledge
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