Cliché. An imperfect storm, going sideways.

Yes, I know.

It's a cliché to use a cliché to attack cliché.

But not all clichés are devil's spawn (whoops).  Some are useful.  For example, is there a more concise way of expressing the proverb 'old dog, new tricks'?  Or a more graphic way of describing the idea of 's**t hitting the fan'?

Just because a word or phrase is widely-used doesn't make it a cliché.  The word 'yes', for instance.  Or indeed the most frequently-occurring word in English: 'the'.

Few of us, I imagine, pull our hair out (whoops again) when we hear the word 'the'.  But if you google 'cliché', you'll be surprised at the diversity of the phrases that drive people up the wall (oh dear).

My personal hate is the term 'going forward', which I'm pleased to see is starting to lose traction (help).

I once worked with someone who used it all the time when talking about the business.  Going forward this, going forward that.  I suspect he was trying to persuade himself the business was going forward.  We all knew it was going backwards.

What really gets my goat (enough, now) is US corporate-speak.  Phrases borrowed from middle-management somewhere in America and brought over here in slavish imitation.

'Going forward' is of course an example, as are 'heads-up', 'perfect storm', 'reach out', 'hard-stop', 'above my pay-grade' and so on.  Don't get me started.

I have nothing against American English.  I think it injects vitality into the language.  It's the liaison between the lady of the house and the game-keeper that restores jut to the receding chin of an aristocratic blood-line.

But as someone with a professional interest in communication, I have long given thought to precisely why cliché is dangerous.  I did have three good reasons, but to avoid that old chestnut, I have reduced them to two.

Non-communication.  Using cliché is not just poor communication, it's non-communication. If you use jargon, your audience will blank it out.  You're effectively stripping out meaning: you might as well replace the phrase with blah-blah-blah.  'In today's competitive market, bleeding-edge businesses seeking to maximise returns need scalable solutions that empower the C-suite to define core competencies...'.  Snore.

Second-hand thinking.  Using a second-hand phrase to express a big idea is even more dangerous, because it signals the idea itself is second-hand.  And therefore your thinking.  If it matters that you come across as original, then use original language.

Only use a cliché if you can give it an original twist.  Don't boil the ocean.  Steam a puddle.