Rating: 
Summary: To be or not to be ... let's talk clich?s.
Review: This little jewel "comes on like gangbusters." This simile is a clich?, the bane of good writing; while they are acceptable in dialogue, in prose these truisms transform good writing into mediocre text.This particular clich? was coined during a 1940's radio program called "Gangbusters," which opened with gunfire and police sirens showing that the good guys were once more closing in on a gang of thugs. The term "Gangbusters" is a clich? in prose, but the scene is a backbone of action movies or TV scripts. How does a writer or editor keep the story from becoming boring by the over usage of clich?s? That is where this dictionary comes in. As an example, I will string a few of the clich?s together in the following paragraph. It may give the appearance of originality, but it is as old as the 'grim reaper' (1711). The humor is in the excessive number of clich?s, but reading a story put together with clich?s quickly becomes boring. I will insert the date the phrase became popular. 'Tom, Dick, and Harry' (1604) were 'fit as a fiddle' (1616), though Wally was 'dead as a doornail' (1350). No one thought about Wally 'in the heat of the battle' (1588) because it was 'do or die' (1809) since they all knew they 'bit off more than they could chew' (1878). Wally was as 'hard as nails' (1837), and had the 'bird's eye view' (18th century) perched, as he was, 'out on a limb' (1897). They agreed that Wally should have seen 'that snake in the grass' (13th century) or 'smelled a rat' (1550) when Sam 'cast the first stone' (Bible reference) toward him. However, Wally always expected a 'square deal' (1633) because 'a friend in need is a friend indeed' (1275), and he had known Sam since 'time immemorial' (1189). Of course, 'money is the root of all evil' (Timothy 6:10) and Sam was 'rotten to the core' (1718), so it should not be a surprise that he was also 'a cold hearted' (1606) 'eager beaver' (18th century) who 'shot {Wally} to hell' (1706) 'in cold blood' (1608). Tom, Dick, and Harry could 'go along for the ride' (1960) or 'explore every avenue' (1890) so they could 'divide the spoils' (Isaiah 12:25). They were, after all, living in 'a den of thieves (Matthew 21:13), and Wally was up there 'on cloud nine' (1950). The Dictionary of Clich?s is a treasure for writers and editors, and an 'honest to goodness' (1900) delight for everyone else. I enjoyed the history associated with over 2,000 clich?s. To me it is five stars. Victoria Tarrani
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