Clichés and Origin Stories
Rome wasn’t built in a day.
It’s raining cats and dogs.
Only time will tell.
She treated him like a dog.
The cat is out of the bag.
I slept like a baby (have you ever known a baby who slept
through the night? Where did this saying come from?)
It’s interesting to look at the history of some of these
clichés, particularly those about animals. Let’s start with “raining
cats and dogs.” Its exact origin is uncertain, but one of the first writers to
use it was Jonathan Swift in 1782. It is thought the expression originated
because London, England, was very rainy, and in many old European cities, animals often washed up dead in the streets during heavy rain.
What about he treated me like a dog? Everybody I know treats
their dog at least as well as they treat their children, and maybe better. Again, this comes from Britain during the days
when dogs were dirty, roamed the streets and were considered low-status. So sad
and infuriating to those of us who love our animals so much!
Lastly, what about who let the cat out of the bag? Whoever
put the cat in the bag in the first place? It means revealing a secret, and it dates back to Britain in the 1700s, when animals were put in bags to be
transported or taunted. There is also a rumor that dishonest merchants sold
cats instead of piglets. I shudder to think about it. As Steven Pinker says in
all of his fabulous books, despite what people think about our current society
in terms of its imperfections, there has never been a better time to be alive
in all of history. This is certainly true for animals—not all but many.
As much as you possibly can, avoid clichés in your writing.
Writing always involves rewriting, and when you go back to reread or rewrite
your article or manuscript, be conscious of using clichés. It’s better to come
up with your own lame original idea than to recycle something that’s been
around for hundreds of years.
One of the few areas where I almost always make exceptions
is in dialogue. If you have a particular character, and you want to give him or
her a flaw or an eccentricity, talking in clichés is a good way to go.
