Clichés
"Clichés come readily to mind during writing. Thus a standard part of your revision should be to remove them or to renovate them." Lynn B. Squires, Marjorie Dick Rombauer, & Katherine See Kennedy, Legal Writing in a Nutshell
107-108 (2d ed., West Publ. Co. 1996).
"Clichés should generally be used sparingly in any writing, but especially in legal writing." Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage
162 (2d ed., Oxford U. Press 1995).
"If a phrase or expression has been used many times before, it's a cliché, and your writing will be more persuasive without it." Wayne Schiess, Better Legal Writing: 15 Topics for Advanced Legal Writers
180 (Carolina Academic Press 2003).
"Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech that you are used to seeing in print." --George Orwell
107-108 (2d ed., West Publ. Co. 1996)."Clichés should generally be used sparingly in any writing, but especially in legal writing." Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage
162 (2d ed., Oxford U. Press 1995)."If a phrase or expression has been used many times before, it's a cliché, and your writing will be more persuasive without it." Wayne Schiess, Better Legal Writing: 15 Topics for Advanced Legal Writers
180 (Carolina Academic Press 2003)."Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech that you are used to seeing in print." --George Orwell
It's also important to remember that making your own variation of the cliche is not avoiding the cliche and in fact, probably makes the writing worse.
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My favorite advice on this issue has always been, "Avoid cliches like the plague." Unfortunately, I don't know the original attribution for this sage--and funny--advice.
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