Thought-Stopping Cliches

Don’t let them hit your brain’s off switch

Photo by Gabriel on Unsplash

Two guys in a bar. One grumbles about how he might not bother voting this year. The second says, “Well, what does it matter — politicians are all the same.” The first one nods… and the conversation moves on.

I’ve written before about cliches. As I see it, these stock phrases with little thought or imagination behind them are toxic for good writing, and best avoided as we craft our articles and stories.

Then a new concept caught my eye: the thought-stopping cliche.

A thought-stopping cliche, according to this source, is a popular and often-repeated phrase that cuts off or discourages further thinking. Just like my example above with the two guys in a bar, these phrases are glib but memorable. They tend to be just accepted without any further thought or analysis.

Other examples

There are really no limits to what could be a thought-stopping cliche. Any phrase could serve the role once it gets so well-worn that we don’t stop to think about whether it’s actually true, or what it really means.

Here are a few other examples:

• “It is what it is.”
• “Everyone’s different.”
• “The world’s going downhill.”