Cliche of the Week 73 – Clinging to Life

Clinging to life is the natural order of the world and most do it after a horror smash. Some also cling to hope that their missing loved ones will return.

Others cling to wreckage, to their dreams, to their beliefs and, these days, most cling to their jobs.

Variations of cling to appear in news reports up to 3000 times a month, with clinging to life used 150 times.

"Trapped in a degrading, dangerous world that left her clinging to life more times than she can count, Laura hated every minute of it." (The Edmonton Sun, November 15)

"Only the thought of his youngest son, just six years old, keeps the man clinging to life." (The Guardian, November 14)

"Two South Bay residents who were hit by trains and survived remain hospitalised. One of them is expected to recover and the other is in a coma, clinging to life, according to their families." (San Jose Mercury News, November 13)

"A homeless man was clinging to life last night after allegedly being viciously bashed at a New Town shelter yesterday." (The Mercury, Hobart, October 22)

"A mum was clinging to life last night after a horror road crash that killed her toddler son." (Scottish Daily Record, November 18)

Cliche of the Week appears in The Australian newspaper Mondays.

Cliches in the media are tracked across the world using Factiva and Dow Jones Insight.

Chris Pash's book, The Last Whale, a true story set in the 1970s, was published by Fremantle Press in 2008.