Legal Writing

Those holiday cliches

An editor recently sent around a note in our office reminding writers and editors to avoid certain cliches that appear in copy and headlines during the holiday season. The list comes from John McIntyre of the Baltimore Sun. Among the offending cliches are:

'Tis the season
'Twas the night before Christmas
The Grinch steals ...
The Ghost of Christmas Past (and any other image from Dickens)
Yes, Virginia

It's true that journalists -- in print, online and, it seems to me, especially in broadcast -- fall back on familiar phrases at this time of year. And it's true that those phrases have become dull and lifeless after many years of use. Cliches only work if they can be used with a fresh twist or in service to sharp irony.

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Full post as published by Triangle Grammar Guide on November 30, 2007 (boomark / email).