A Matter of Grave Concern
Speaking very frankly, at this point in time America’s public discourse is drowning in a sea of cliches. The cliche paradigm rules. Is there no human capable of saying something--anything--in an out-of-the-box way? In Washington, where they’ve slung mud, mongered scandals and spun wheels for years, they now know the devil’s in the details and at the end of the day what goes around comes around. So they’re working 24/7 in a bipartisan fashion to get legislation on the right track for the American people who, to be quite candid, aren’t listening anymore. Like athletes, our public figures give 110% until the fat lady sings, sticking to the game plan because timing is everything and tomorrow is another day.
This isn’t apples and oranges. Once, we had political figures like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Everett McKinley Dirksen and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, elegant poster boys for eloquence, elocution and inspiring vocabulary. Their delicious sentences invited us to conjure original images and new possibilities together.
To be sure, there’s no magic cure to cliches (the French clicher means “to stereotype,” the German klitsch “a clay-like clump”). But must everyone be so lazy-tongued every minute, mouthing endless inanities to grease our way through the day with minimal thought and involvement? Thanks a lot, e-mail!
If the world is in such a hurry that no one has time to construct an entire sentence with a real verb (“More bad news for travelers”), let’s draft a numbered code sheet of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and frequently used phrases (FUPs). Then friends could just say, “44, 50, 14?” And the reply would be: “133,” causing everyone to chuckle knowingly. That would save chunks of time. Community cannot exist without communication. No wonder many feel isolated.
The media must accept much blame. Their words preserved in print or evaporating on airwaves reach millions. Trite is right. The excuse: space and time. Say “disaster” and only two words are likely to come to a journalist’s mind: “struck” and “loomed.” Can havoc be anything except wreaked? Also, where’s it written that every TV program must end when the big hand is at the top or bottom? “Governor, we’ve got 45 seconds left. What is the solution to global warming?” Politicians, who need TV to market their brand name and stay employed, learn that average sound bites now last eight seconds. Be brief or be cut. What’s briefer than a cliche? No problemo.
Our linguistic laziness certainly bears close watching. Time will tell. On the bright side, the glass is half-full and today is the first day of the rest of our lives. The nation is watching because there are no easy fixes.
Bottom line, we should stay tuned. Oh, and don’t blame the messenger.