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Words. Kyle Thompson. Fight the urge to use cheap, made-up words, or clichés (Zinsser Pg. 32) Cliché - overused http://suspense.net/whitefish/cliche.htm C alm before the storm Make my day More examples?
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Words Kyle Thompson
Fight the urge to use cheap, made-up words, or clichés (Zinsser Pg. 32) • Cliché - overused • http://suspense.net/whitefish/cliche.htm • Calm before the storm • Make my day • More examples? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klltwoa6glE&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL1464B16C54B0EDFE
A Cure to Cliché • Simplify? • “A Bolt from the Blue” => a shock, a surprise • “Swept under the Rug” => • Twist it Up, Revise • James Bond in Live and Let Die, not “Live and Let Live • On the other hand, or “On the other paw” • Create your own… Wheeler, K.“Curing Clichés.” cn.edu. Carson-Newman. n. d. Web. 1 November 2011. http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Cliches_Trite_phrasing.pdf
What is Journalese? • Words sewn together out of other parts of speech • Adjectives used as nouns (greats, nobles) • Nouns used as verbs (to host), “chopped off” and used as verbs (enthuse, emote), or “padded” and used as verbs (beef up, put teeth into) • : Avoid • (Zinsser pg. 32)
Example Last February, Plainclothes Patrolman Frank Serpico knocked at the door of a suspected Brooklyn heroin pusher. When the door opened a crack, Serpico shouldered his way in only to be met by a .22 cal. pistol slug crashing into his face. Somehow he survived, although there are still buzzing fragments in his head, causing dizziness and permanent deafness in his left ear. Almost as painful is the suspicion that he may well have been set up for the shooting by other policemen. For Serpico, 35, has been waging a lonely, four-year war against the routine and endemic corruption that he and others claim is rife in the New York City police department. His efforts are now sending shock waves through the ranks of New York’s finest. . . . Though the impact of the commission's upcoming report has yet to be felt, Serpico has little hope that . . .
Answer Last February, Plainclothes Patrolman Frank Serpico knocked at the door of a suspected Brooklyn heroin pusher. When the door opened a crack, Serpicoshouldered his way in only to be met by a .22 cal. pistol slug crashing into his face. Somehow he survived, although there are still buzzing fragments in his head, causing dizziness and permanent deafness in his left ear. Almost as painful is the suspicion that he may well have been set up for the shooting by other policemen. For Serpico, 35, has been waging a lonely, four-year war against the routine and endemic corruption that he and others claim is rife in the New York City police department. His efforts are now sending shock waves through the ranks of New York’s finest. . . . Though the impact of the commission's upcoming report has yet to be felt, Serpico has little hope that . . .
There is Still Hope • Care about words • Be original • Use a dictionary, and thesaurus • Notice small differences between what appear to be synonyms • Jump --> Hop? • Roget’s Thesaurus not a solution • Rhythm and alliteration (Zinsser pg. 34)
Check Out • The Elements of Style by E. B. White • Try rearranging phrases • Thomas Paine’s “These are the times that try men’s souls”: Times like these try men’s souls. How trying it is to live in these times! These are trying times for men’s souls. Soulwise, these are trying times.
Works Cited • Hayden, Laura. "Left-Brain- Right Brain/Creativity Program.“ Suspense.net. n. d. Web. 1 November 2011. http://suspense.net/whitefish/cliche.htm • Wheeler, K.“Curing Clichés.” cn.edu. Carson-Newman. n. d. Web. 1 November 2011. http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Cliches_Trite_phrasing.pdf • Zinsser, William. (2006). On Writing Well, 25th Anniversary: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction (7th ed.). HarperCollins Publishers.