陈词滥调是一种陈腐的表达方式，通常是一种修辞手法，由于过度使用和过于熟悉，其效果已经失效。

作者兼编辑索尔·斯坦建议：“切掉你遇到的每一个陈词滥调。”。“说新的或直截了当的”（Stein on Writing，1995）。但切碎陈词滥调并不像馅饼那么容易，甚至不如一、二、三那么容易。在消除陈词滥调之前，你必须能够识别它们。

词源：来自法语，“刻板印象板”

实例和意见

生活和学习。坚持到底。一报还一报

"The essence of a cliché is that words are not misused, but have gone dead."

（克莱夫·詹姆斯，粘在盒子上，乔纳森·凯普，1982）

"I think I'll adopt the definition set forth by someone who has thought about clichés longer than I have. In On Clichés (Routledge and Kegan Paul [1979]), a most suggestive treatise, a Dutch sociologist named Anton C. Zijderveld defines a cliché thus: "'A cliché is a traditional form of human expression (in words, thoughts, emotions, gestures, acts) which—due to repetitive use in social life—has lost its original, often ingenious heuristic power. Although it thus fails positively to contribute meaning to social interactions and communication, it does function socially, since it manages to stimulate behavior (cognition, emotion, volition, action), while it avoids reflection on meanings.' "This is a definition that doesn't, you might say, throw the baby out with the bathwater; it leaves no stone unturned while offering several blessings in disguise, and in the final analysis provides an acid test. You might say all this, that is, if you have an ear dead to the grossest of clichés."

（约瑟夫·爱泼斯坦，“短暂的真理”，《美国学者》，1979-80年冬天）

"People say, 'I'm taking it one day at a time.' You know what? So is everybody. That's how time works."

（喜剧演员汉尼拔·布雷斯，2011）

"I sailed through a logjam of dead literary clichés: snow-capped peaks above, fathomless depths below; and, in the middle of the picture, the usual gaunt cliffs, hoary crags, wild woods and crystal cascades."

（乔纳森·拉班，《通往朱诺的通道》，1999年）

避免陈词滥调

"Clichés are a dime a dozen. If you've seen one, you've seen them all. They've been used once too often. They've outlived their usefulness. Their familiarity breeds contempt. They make the writer look as dumb as a doornail, and they cause the reader to sleep like a log. So be sly as a fox. Avoid clichés like the plague. If you start to use one, drop it like a hot potato. Instead, be smart as a whip. Write something that is fresh as a daisy, cute as a button, and sharp as a tack. Better safe than sorry."

（Gary Provost，《提高写作能力的100种方法》，导师，1985年）

陈词滥调的类型

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder is a proverb cliché indicating that, if two people who love each other are separated, the separation is likely to intensify their love for each other.​ "Achilles heel is an allusion cliché meaning a weak spot, a flaw that makes one vulnerable.​ "Acid test is an idiom cliché referring to a test which will either prove or disprove the truth or worth of something.​ "Age before beauty is a catchphrase cliché supposedly used when allowing someone older to go before one into a room, etc., although this seems rather arrogant if used seriously.​ "Alive and kicking is a doublet cliché, both words in the context meaning much the same thing.​ "Avoid like the plague is a simile cliché meaning to avoid contact as much as possible."

（贝蒂·柯克帕特里克，《陈词滥调：探索和解释1500多个短语》，圣马丁出版社，1996年）

陈腐的比喻和拙劣的借口

"When metaphors are fresh they are a form of thought, but when they are stale they are a way to avoid thought. Tip of the iceberg offends the ear as a cliché, and it offends reason because it is imprecise, if not spurious—just as when people say, 'And the list goes on,' and one knows that they have actually run out of examples. Often the writer will try to excuse the cliché by acknowledging it ('the proverbial cat that ate the canary') or by dressing it up ('the icing on the marketing cake'). These gambits never work."

（特蕾西·基德和理查德·托德，《好散文：非小说艺术》，兰登书屋，2013年）

识别和评价陈词滥调

"Our writers are full of clichés just as old barns are full of bats. There is obviously no rule about this, except that anything you suspect of being a cliché undoubtedly is one and had better be removed."

（沃尔科特·吉布斯）

"You probably haven't lived as long as, say, your storytelling uncle, so how can you be expected to know a cliché if you write one? The best way to develop an ear for clichés (as well as for originality) is to read as much as you can. There is also that most useful weapon in any battle, the one you are developing every day—experience."

（史蒂文·弗兰克，《钢笔戒律》，万神殿图书，2003年）

"It is a cliché that most clichés are true, but then like most clichés, that cliché is untrue."

（斯蒂芬·弗莱，摩押是我的洗脸盆，1997年）

"Some clichés were quite apt when first used but have become hackneyed over the years. One can hardly avoid using the occasional cliché, but clichés that are inefficient in conveying their meaning or are inappropriate to the occasion should be avoided."

（M.Manswer，《布卢姆斯伯里好话指南》，1988年）

"You might . . .want to base your notion of the cliché not on the expression itself but on its use; if it seems to be used without much reference to a definite meaning, it is then perhaps a cliché. But even this line of attack fails to separate cliché from the common forms of polite social intercourse. A second and more workable approach would be simply to call a cliché whatever word or expression you have heard or seen often enough to find annoying."

（韦伯斯特英语用法词典，1989年）

陈词滥调的专家阿伯诺特先生

"Q: Mr. Arbuthnot, you are an expert in the use of the cliché as applied to matters of health and ill health, are you not? A: I am. Q: In that case, how do you feel? A: Oh, fair to middling. I suppose. I can't complain. Q: You don't sound so awfully chipper. A: What's the use of complaining? I hate people who are always telling their friends about their ailments. O-o-h! Q: What's the matter? A: My head. It's splitting. . . . Q: Have you taken anything? A: I've taken everything but nothing seems to do me any good. Q: Maybe you're coming down with a cold. A: Oh, I always have a cold. I'm subject to colds. Q: There's certainly quite a lot of 'em around. A: You know, I'm supposed to say that. I'm the cliché expert around here, not you."

（弗兰克·沙利文，“陈词滥调专家感觉不舒服”，弗兰克·沙利文在他的最佳状态，多佛，1996年）

1907年的股票比较

"The following interesting lines, of which the composer is unknown, contain all the stock comparisons most frequently used in conversation, arranged in such a manner as to rhyme: As wet as a fish—as dry as a bone, As live as a bird—as dead as a stone, As plump as a partridge—as poor as a rat, As strong as a horse—as weak as a cat, As hard as a flint—as soft as a mole, As white as a lily—as black as a coal, As plain as a pikestaff—as rough as a bear, As light as a drum—as free as the air, As heavy as lead—as light as a feather, As steady as time—uncertain as weather, As hot as an oven—as cold as a frog, As gay as a lark—as sick as a dog, As slow as the tortoise—as swift as the wind, As true as the Gospel—as false as mankind, As thin as a herring—as fat as a pig, As proud as a peacock—as blithe as a grig, As savage as tigers—as mild as a dove, As stiff as a poker—as limp as a glove, As blind as a bat—as deaf as a post, As cool as a cucumber—as warm as a toast, As flat as a flounder—as round as a ball, As blunt as a hammer—as sharp as an awl, As red as a ferret—as safe as the stocks, As bold as a thief—as sly as a fox, As straight as an arrow—as crook'd as a bow, As yellow as saffron—as black as a sloe, As brittle as glass—as tough as gristle, As neat as my nail—as clean as a whistle, As good as a feast—as bad as a witch, As light as is day—as dark as is pitch, As brisk as a bee—as dull as an ass, As full as a tick—as solid as brass."

（画报喜剧：著名艺术家描绘的生活的幽默阶段，第17卷，1907年）

陈词滥调的轻松一面

"That's the way with these directors: they're always biting the hand that lays the golden egg."

（归于塞缪尔·戈德温）

"Shortly after returning from his tour of the Near East, Anthony Eden submitted a long-winded report to the Prime Minister on his experiences and impressions. [Winston] Churchill, it is told, returned it to his War Minister with a note, 'As far as I can see you have used every cliché except "God is love" and "Please adjust your dress before leaving."'"

（生活，1940年12月。丘吉尔否认这个故事是真实的。）

"[Winston] Churchill was once asked why he never began a speech with 'It gives me a great deal of pleasure . . ..' He replied: 'There are only a few things from which I derive great pleasure, and speaking is not one of them.'"

（詹姆斯·C·休谟，《像丘吉尔一样说话，像林肯一样站着：历史上最伟大演说家的21个强大秘密》。三河出版社，2002年）

"Reginald Perrin: Well, we meet in altered circumstances, CJ. CJ: We do indeed. Reginald Perrin: The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. CJ: I couldn't put it better myself. Reginald Perrin: The night is darkest before the storm. CJ: Precisely. I didn't get where you are today without knowing that the night is darkest before the storm. Reginald Perrin: Now tell me, CJ. Do you think you can work happily with me as your boss? CJ: If you ask me a straight question, I'm going to give you a straight answer. I've always taken great pains not to talk in clichés. A cliché to me is like a red rag to a bull. However, there's an exception that proves a rule, and there is a cliché which fits my situation like a glove. Reginald Perrin: And that is? CJ: Necessity is the mother of intention. In other words, Reggie, I am forced to consider working for you."

（大卫·诺布斯，《雷金纳德·佩林的回归》，英国广播公司，1977年）