How Many of These Cliches Do You Use?

Carlos Lorzada:

• Literally
• Kingmaker
• The [anything] community
• Inside the Beltway
• Demurred
• It’s the [anything], stupid
• Redux
• That’s just [person’s name] being [person’s name]
• It is what it is
• Political theater
• Part and parcel
• Main Street vs. Wall Street
• At first glance
• As a society (or “as a nation”)
• Observers
• TK is not alone
• Pundits say (or “critics say”)
• The American people (unless in a quote)
• The narrative (unless referring to a style of writing)
• Probe (as substitute for “investigation”)
• A rare window (unless we’re talking about a real window that is in fact rare)
• Begs the question (unless used properly—and so rarely used properly that not worth it)
• Be that as it may
• It is important to note that
• Needless to say
• [Anything] 2.0 (or 3.0, or 4.0 . . .)
• At a crossroads
• TK is a favorite Washington parlor game
• Yes, Virginia, there is a TK
• Underscored
• Midwife (as a verb that does not involve childbirth)
• Call it TK
• Pity the poor TK
• Imagine (as the first word in your lede)
• It’s the TK, stupid
• Palpable sense of relief
• Rorschach test (unless it is a real one)
• The Other
• Effort (as a verb)
• Gestalt/Zeitgeist
• Little-noticed (that just means the writer hadn’t noticed it)
• he [anything] community
• Hastily convened
• Ignominious end
• Tightly knit community
• In the final analysis
• At the end of the day
• Literally (unless quoting Vice President Biden)
• Ultimately (especially as first word of last graf)
• Redux
• Rise of the 24-hour news cycle (it rose a long time ago)
• Remains to be seen
• Feeding frenzy/feeding the frenzy
• Double down
• [Anything]-gate
• Dons the mantle of
• Political theater
• Hot-button issue
• Face-saving compromise
• The argument goes (or its cousin, “the thinking goes”)
• Shutter (as a verb)
• Part and parcel
• Demurred
• It is what it is
• The new normal
• Paradigm shift (in journalism, all paradigms are shifting)
• Unlikely revolutionary (in journalism, all revolutionaries are unlikely)
• Unlikely reformer (in journalism, all reformers are unlikely)
• Grizzled veteran (in journalism, all veterans are grizzled—unless they are “seasoned”)
• Manicured lawns (in journalism, all nice lawns are manicured)
• Rose from obscurity (in journalism, all rises are from obscurity)
• Dizzying array (in journalism, all arrays make one dizzy)
• Withering criticism (in journalism, all criticism is withering)
• Predawn raid (in journalism, all raids are predawn)
• Sparked debate (or “raised questions”)
• Ironic Capitalizations Implying Unimportance of Things Others Consider Important
• Provides fresh details
• But reality/truth is more complicated (oversimplify, then criticize the oversimplification)
• Scarred by war
• Main Street vs. Wall Street
• Shines a spotlight on (unless there is a real spotlight that really shines)
• TK is no panacea (nothing is)
• No silver bullet
• Shifting dynamics
• Situation is fluid (code for “I have no idea what is going on”)
• Partisans on both sides
• Charm offensive
• Pushback
• Going forward
• Stinging rebuke
• Mr. TK goes to Washington (unless a reference to the actual movie)
• The proverbial TK (“proverbial” doesn’t excuse the cliche, just admits you used it knowingly)
• Fevered speculation
• Oft-cited
• Iconic
• Growing body of evidence (in journalism, no bodies of evidence ever shrink)
• Increasingly (unless we prove in the story that something is in fact increasing)
• Tapped (as substitute for “selected” or “appointed”)
• Any “not un-” formulation (as in “not unsurprising”)
• There, I said it (more self-important than “voicey”)
• To be sure

Addendum (5/15/2014): How about these (also from Lorzada)?

• At first glance (or worse, “at first blush”)
• As a nation (or worse, “as a society”)
• Upon deeper reflection (why not reflect deeply from the start?)
• Observers (unless referring to people actually sitting around watching something)
• [Person] is not alone (from anecdote to generalization, we get it)
• And [someone/something] is no exception
• Pundits say
• Critics say (or “critics are quick to point out”)
• The American people (unless in a quote)
• The narrative (unless referring to a style of writing)
• Probe (an uncomfortable substitute for “investigation”)
• Opens/offers a rare window (unless it is a real window that is in fact unusual)
• Begs the question (unless used properly – and so rarely used properly that it’s not worth the trouble)
• Be that as it may
• If you will (actually, I won’t)
• A cautionary tale
• Needless to say (then don’t say it)
• Suffice it to say (if it suffices, then just say it)
• This is not your father’s [anything]
• [Anything] 2.0 (or 3.0, or 4.0…)
• At a crossroads (unless referring to an actual intersection)
• The powers that be
• Outside the box (describes creative thinking — with a cliche)
• A favorite Washington parlor game
• Yes, Virginia, there is a [something]
• Christmas came early for [someone]
• Chock full (“full” is just fine by itself)
• Last-ditch effort (unless ditch-digging is involved)
• Midwife (as a verb, unless involving childbirth)
• Cue the [something]
• Call it [something]
• Pity the poor [something]
• It’s the [something], stupid
• Imagine (as the first word in your lede)
• Time will tell if [something]
• Palpable sense of relief (unless you can truly touch it)
• Plenty of blame to go around
• Rorschach test (unless it is a real one)
• Turned a blind eye
• Underscores
• Cycle of violence (unless referring to a particularly vicious Schwinn)
• Searing indictment
• Famously (if readers know it, you don’t need to tell them it is famous; if they don’t know it, you just made them feel stupid)
• The Other (or “otherize,” “otherization” and other variations)
• Effort (as a verb)
• Table (as a verb, as in “table the talks”)
• Shutter (as a verb, as in “they shuttered the factory”)
• Gestalt/Zeitgeist
• Orwellian (unless discussing George Orwell)
• Machiavellian (unless discussing Niccolo Machiavelli)
• Gladwellian (never)
• What happens in [somewhere] stays in [somewhere]
• Oft-cited
• Little-noticed
• Closely watched
• Hastily convened
• Much ballyhooed
• Shrouded in secrecy
• Since time immemorial
• Tipping point
• Inflection point
• Point of no return
• The [anything] community
• The devil is in the details
• A ragtag army (or ragtag militia)
• A tale of two [anything]
• Ignominious end
• Tightly knit (unless referring to actual knitting)
• In the final analysis (especially as beginning of a final sentence/paragraph)
• Ultimately (same as above)
• For all intents and purposes
• At the end of the day (same as above)
• Who lost [insert country here]?
• Punditocracy
• Twitterati
• Commentariat
• Chattering classes
• Naysayers
• Took to Twitter
• Tongues wagging
• White-shoe law firm
• Well-heeled lobbyists
• Skittish donors
• Byzantine rules (unless referring to the empire in the Middle Ages)
• Rise of the 24-hour news cycle (it’s been a while)
• In the digital age (again, it’s been a while)
• Not so fast
• Remains to be seen
• Tenuous at best
• Woefully inadequate
• Or so it seems
• Depending on whom you ask
• Burst onto the national political scene
• For now (especially at the end of a sentence set off by a dash; all it does is negate everything that ame before)
• Tectonic shifts or seismic shifts (unless real ones)
• Feeding frenzy/feeding the frenzy
• Double down
• Game-changer
• [Anything]-gate (especially if you’re writing in The Washington Post)
• In the wake of [anything]
• How I learned to stop worrying and love the [anything]
• Don the mantle of [anything]
• Usher in an era of [anything]
• A portrait emerges
• In a nutshell
• The social fabric (or “the very fabric of our democracy/nation/society”)
• Hot-button issue
• Perfect storm
• Face-saving compromise
• Eye-popping
• The argument goes
• The thinking goes
• Contrary to popular belief
• Intoned
• The new normal
• The talk of the town (unless referring to the New Yorker section)
• It couple (or “power couple”)
• Paradigm shift (in journalism, all paradigms are shifting)
• Unlikely revolutionary (in journalism, all revolutionaries are unlikely)
• Unlikely reformer (in journalism, all reformers are unlikely, too)
• Grizzled veteran (in journalism, all veterans are either grizzled or “seasoned”)
• Manicured lawns (in journalism, all lawns are manicured)
• Wide-ranging interview (in journalism, all interviews range widely, even if they don’t)
• Rose from obscurity (in journalism, all rises are from obscurity)
• Dizzying array (in journalism, all arrays make one dizzy)
• Withering criticism (in journalism, all criticism is withering)
• Predawn raid (in journalism, all raids take place in the predawn hours)
• Nondescript office building (in journalism, all office buildings are nondescript)
• Unsung hero (in journalism, all heroes lack music)
• Sparked debate
• Raised questions
• Raises more questions than answers
• Raise the specter of [anything]
• More often than not
• hand-wringing
• Ironic Capitalization Implying the Unimportance of Things Others Consider Important
• But reality/truth is more complicated (in journalism, we oversimplify, then criticize the oversimplification)
• Scarred by war (unless referring to real scars)
• War-torn
• War of words (worse if followed by “is heating up”)
• Trading barbs
• Shines a spotlight on [something] (unless there is a real spotlight that is shining)
• [Something] is no panacea
• [Something] is no silver bullet
• Political football
• Political theater
• More than you think (how do you know what I think?)
• Less than you think (how do you know what I think?)
• Not as much as you think (how do you know what I think?)
• You guessed it (how do you know what I guessed?)
• Shifting dynamics (code for “don’t hold me to this”)
• The situation is fluid (code for “I have no idea what is going on”)
• Partisans on both sides
• Charm offensive
• Fallen on hard times
• On thin ice
• Poster child
• Going forward
• Creature of Washington
• Official Washington
• A modest proposal (this was written once, very well, and has been written terribly ever since)
• Stinging rebuke
• Mr. [Anyone] goes to Washington (unless a reference to the actual movie)
• The proverbial [something] (Tacking this in front of a cliche doesn’t excuse it, just admits you used it knowingly)
• Fevered speculation
• Iconic
• How did we get here? (code for “here comes the b-matter”)
• But first, some background (code for “I know more than you do”)
• Growing body of evidence
• [Anything] on steroids (unless you cover professional sports)
• Resists easy classification/categorization
• Increasingly (unless story proves something is in fact increasing)
• Tapped (as substitute for “selected” or “appointed)
• Any “not-un” formulation (as in “not unsurprising that you’d use that cliche”)
• Wait for it
• There, I said it
• And here’s the kicker
• See what I did there?

Addendum (7/11/2014): The fun continues!