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Cliches kill readers
- They bore the readers to death by attempting to revitalize worn-out expressions. There are too many cliches in our language to be able to do away with them entirely. However, cliches can be avoided by attempting to use freshly-coined phrases. (Oh goodness! There goes one now!)
As a matter of fact
- This phrase is actually a verbal attempt to certify something as truthful. As a matter of fact, this phrase is often considered unnecessary, meaningless, and wordy.
As good as or better than
This is another example of wordiness. Either it is as good as the original item or it is better than the original item. It seems that the person using this phrase really isn't sure of the value or worth of the subject being compared to the original.The Lexus Towncar runs just as well as or better than the BMW Sport.
Few and far between
Between what? We assume that whatever is referred to as few and far between is rare or hard to find.
last but not least
This polite old expression is usually used in presentations to mean that the thing or person presented last is not the least in order of importance but only incidentally last. However, this tired expression should be used only as a "last ditch effort" to designate order.
When the going gets tough...
We've all heard the ending to this phrase so many times that the phrase no longer has any force. Get inventive and find another way to add some phrase of encouragement.
Worthwhile
This is a great vagary: It was a worthwhile story. We understand that worthwhile means good. However, what is the exact value of worthwhile?
