Overview

Careful writers and speakers agree that clichés are generally to be avoided. However, nearly all of us continue to use them. Why do they persist in our language?In It's Been Said Before, lexicographer Orin Hargraves examines the peculiar idea and power of the cliché. He helps readers understand why certain phrases became clichés and why they should be avoided -- or why they still have life left in them. Indeed, clichés can be useful -- even powerful. And few people even agree on which expressions are clichés and which are not. Many regard any frequent idiom as a cliché, and a phrase regarded as a cliché in one context may be seen simply as an effective expression in another. Examples drawn from data about actual usage support Hargraves' identification of true clichés. They also illuminate his commentary on usage problems and helpful suggestions for eliminating clichés where they serve no useful purpose.Concise and lively, It's Been Said Before serves as a guide to the most overused phrases in the English language -- and to phrases that are used exactly as often as they should be.

Full Product Details

Author:   Orin Hargraves (Lexicographer and language researcher, Lexicographer and language researcher)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.340kg
ISBN:  

9780190624156

ISBN 10:   0190624159
Pages:   248
Publication Date:   08 December 2016
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

"Introduction 1. Adjectival Clichés: Clichés that modify nouns or serve as predicates after linking verbs 2. Adverbial Clichés: Clichés that function as adverbials, describing how, when, with what, in what manner, etc. 3. People, Places, and Things: Clichés that function as noun phrases 4. Framing Devices: Clichés used to introduce, contextualize, or conclude questions or statements 5. Modifier Abuse: Clichés arising from extremely frequent and/or inapt collocation of particular adjectives with nouns, or of submodifying adverbs with adjectives 6. Predicate Clichés: Clichés beginning with a finite verb that serve as complete predicates 7. Quantification: Clichés that characterize quantities 8. Situational Clichés: Clichés consisting of complete sentences that characterize a situation or action 9. Clichés About Clichés: ways that people talk about or mention clichés that are themselves clichés 10. Appendix I: joined by ""and"" clichés: numerous phrases consisting of words joined by 'and'"

Reviews

concise and punchy JC, The Lady

Author Information

Orin Hargraves is a lexicographer and author of language reference books. He grew up in the mountains of southwestern Colorado and graduated from the University of Chicago. A past president of the Dictionary Society of North America, Hargraves has contributed to dozens of dictionaries and other language reference books. He currently lives in Niwot, Colorado, and researches the computational use of language at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

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