Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: sinkspur
I vote for "to tell you the truth" as the most annoying cliche.

As is someone isn't telling the truth unless they preface their remark with the phrase, "To tell you the truth . . ."

LOL.

8 posted on 03/24/2004 8:40:04 AM PST by Alberta's Child (Alberta -- the TRUE north strong and free.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]


To: Alberta's Child
Tips For Writing Good

Avoid alliteration. Always.
Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.)
Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
One should never generalize.
Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
Don't be redundant; don't more use words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
Profanity sucks.
Be more or less specific.
Understatement is always best.
Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
One-word sentences? Eliminate.
Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
The passive voice is to be avoided.
Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
Who needs rhetorical questions?

34 posted on 03/24/2004 8:49:33 AM PST by ActionNewsBill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson