It's Been Said Before : A Guide to the Use and Abuse of Clichés, Paperback by...

It's Been Said Before : A Guide to the Use and Abuse of Clichés, Paperback by Hargraves, Orin, ISBN 0190624159, ISBN-13 9780190624156, Like New Used, Free shipping in the US"Careful writers and speakers agree that clichâes 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 clichâe. He helps readers understand why certain phrases became clichâes and why they should be avoided -- or why they still have life left in them. Indeed, clichâes can be useful -- even powerful. And few people even agree on which expressions are clichâes and which are not. Many regard any frequent idiom as a clichâe, and a phrase regarded as a clichâe 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 clichâes. They also illuminate his commentary on usage problems and helpful suggestions for eliminating clichâes 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"--