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A Dictionary of Cliches
This work is full of things better left unsaid : hackneyed phrases, idioms battered into senselessness, infuriating Gallicisms, once-familiar quotations and tags from the ancient classics. It makes a formidable list, amplified as it is with definitions, sources, and indications of the clichés, venerability in every case.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
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January 15, 2015
As writers, none of us want to tatter our work with cliches. But aren't these overused phrases the first things that come to mind? Too many irons in the fire. Heart of gold. Cut and run. Rags to riches. Pound of flesh. Who said 'pound of flesh' anyway? Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. 'Year in, year out' was first written by Bruce Graeme in Racing Yacht Mystery in 1939. Want to know more about cliches and where they came from originally? This is the book to have on your shelf.
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