Hack(neyed), Yes! Let's Hear It For Trite Epression

A cliché, according to Dictionary.com is "a trite, stereotyped expression; a sentence or phrase, usually expressing a popular or common thought or idea, that has lost originality, ingenuity, and impact by long overuse."

A nominee for the 2007 Cliché of the Year is "Take it to the next level." Other nominees were "Synergies," "Leverage," "Been there for me," and "The Bottom Line."

More Googling produced the 2004 Cliché of the Year: "It is what it is." One definition of what that means is in a song written by John Barlow, former lyricist for the Grateful Dead. His song is titled, "It Is What It Is." Some sample lyrics:

"If you need an explanation,
there's a quick and easy answer
Stop thinking for a moment and give this one a try
'Cause it is what it is, what it is, what it is, what it is."

If this is (fair & balanced) unoriginality, so be it.

[x (Peoria) Journal Star]
A trite and true column
By Kirk Wessler

My back was against the wall.

Super Bowl Sunday was coming at me like a runaway freight train. My mind was drawing the proverbial blank on a column in front of the big game. It was like fourth-and-20, deep in my own territory, and time was running out. Deadline stared me in the face. There was no tomorrow.

I called Dr. Cliché for help.

"I'm ready to give 110 percent," he said.
Dr. Cliché, a.k.a. licensed psychologist Dr. Don Powell, is America's go-to guy for cliches. In fact, he wrote the book on clichés, Best Sports Cliches Ever. It lists 1,771 of the little buggers we love to hate.

Especially during Super Bowl Week, which is like the world's biggest annual cliché convention.

Sports reporters every year tear their hair out, trying to get players and coaches to say something we haven't heard before. This is why Media Day, conducted on Tuesday of Super Bowl Week, has turned into the circus.

"Because of the media blitz, the players are up to their eyeballs in answering questions," Dr. Cliché explained. "So what comes off the top of their heads, without thinking, is the cliché."

Some media outlets will stop at nothing in the quest to elicit a fresh response. Take TV Azteca, which sent a woman in full bridal gown to propose marriage to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

"What did he say?" Dr. Cliché asked.

"He told her, 'I'm a one-woman man,' " I replied.

"Sounds like he's taking them one at a time," Dr. Cliché analyzed.

That's par for the course with the Patriots.

Topping the charts for cliché use is Pats head coach Bill Belichick, whom Dr. Cliché called "the Master of Take 'Em One At A Time."

"His team personifies his mantra," the doctor continued. "Everything they say, it's all pretty much cliché. 'We play within ourselves.' 'We're a blue-collar team.' 'We have the utmost respect for the Giants.' You can go on and on."

Every year at this time, Dr. Cliché compiles a list of the "tried, trite and true" phrases he predicts will be heard most frequently. Like clockwork, at the beginning of the week, he delivered the "Top 10 Clichés for Super Bowl XLII." Don't stop me if you've heard these before:

1. "In pursuit of perfection." (This was the doctor's Cliché of the Year.)

2. "Come game time, Brady will be good to go."

3. "There's a lot of love in our locker room."

4. "It's David vs. Goliath."

5. "Patriots are playing with a lot of swagger."

6. "We're a blue-collar team."

7. "They get contributions from a lot of people."

8. "Both teams need to keep their emotions in check."

9. "Belichick and (Giants coach Tom) Coughlin are X's and O's men."

10. "We need to avoid all the distractions this week."

Dr. Cliché explained clichés are not confined to sports, although sports clichés rule the world.

"We criticize their use, yet we use them ourselves," he said. "Fifty percent of everyday conversation, in the board room or on the field, is sports cliches. 'One on one.' 'Answer the bell.' 'Drop the ball.' 'Time to punt.' We'd have trouble communicating if we didn't have cliches. Cliches are the right word, at the right time, in the right place."

In other words, I guess, clichés are a necessary evil. Like picking a winner of the Super Bowl.

Dr. Cliché is a Giants fan. I asked him to pick with his head instead of his heart in this showdown between the ultimate juggernaut and the quintessential underdog.

"I'm actually going with the upset and picking the Giants by 3 points," Dr. Cliché said.

He went on to explain the Patriots might be uptight trying to become the first team since the 1972 Dolphins to go wire-to-wire without a loss, that this game is everything or nothing for the Pats and there's a lot of pressure on them, while the Giants are sure to play with intensity and they're not about to roll over and play dead, and ...

Well, you get the picture.

Editor's note: No clichés were harmed during the writing of this column, nor were any brain cells damaged. The English language might be another story.

[Kirk Wessler is Journal Star executive sports editor/columnist.]

Copyright © 2008 Journal Star

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