词汇大师(Wordmaster)--Cliches

AA: This is Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster -- the language of cliches.

RS: These are phrases that lose meaning when we use them all the time. Take the expression: 24-7. That's another way of saying "24 hours a day, seven days a week." When I first heard it, it sounded clever. Now it's just time worn.

AA: Same with "issues" as a nicer way to say "problems," as in "that person has issues." The problem is, this well-intentioned euphemism² now seems like a cliche¹. Not long ago, I heard a hiking boot salesman tell a frustrated³ customer that she had "lacing issues."

RS: So does that mean she had trouble tying her shoes?

AA: Apparently⁴ so.

RS: The whole issue of cliches prompted Ben Yagoda, an English professor at the University of Delaware, to write an article for the Chronicle of Higher Education. He bases his view about how cliches evolve on what the British writer George Orwell had to say, which is that the life span of a cliche often begins with a metaphor⁵.

TAPE: CUT ONE -- YAGODA

"Take, as an example, Achilles' heel. Now, 'Achilles' heel' is an expression that means someone's weakness and it comes from the legend of Achilles, who hurt his heel. In researching this piece I wrote I came upon the fact in the Oxford⁶ English Dictionary that the first person to use Achilles heel as a metaphor for weaken was Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the nineteenth century poet. What a great idea that he had to say 'this character's Achilles' heel was his pride.' The problem was that it was so good that people started copying it, started talking about this person's Achilles' heel, that company's Achilles' heel, and that company's Achilles' heel, until it became a cliche."

AA: Ben Yagoda says according to Orwell, after a long time a popular figure of speech reaches a third stage when it becomes a "dead metaphor."

TAPE: CUT TWO -- YAGODA

"And Achilles' heel is at that stage now, where it's sort of gone beyond cliche. No one says that to be clever or even to attempt to say something fresh or stylish⁷. It's now at the stage of being more or less a synonym⁸ for weakness."

RS: Despite the love-hate relationship many people have with cliches, Ben Yagoda calls them the "currency of the language."

TAPE: CUT TWO YAGODA/SKIRBLE/ARDITTI

"To avoid cliches, your speech and your writing would have to consist of either terms that exactly denote what you're talking about, like 'I will move the chair,' 'I will stand up now and go,' totally dull, or constantly be trying to invent new metaphors⁹ or new clever, funny, stylish expressions, which is hard. As with the example of Achilles' heel, the good thing about cliches is that they really do express a meaning in an understandable and vivid way."

RS: "Do you have some favorites?"

YAGODA: "Well, let's see, I have things that really..."

RS: "Or really bother you?"

YAGODA: "Bug¹⁰ me, yeah, and I can't explain why. The word 'arguably' ... "

AA: "Yes, yes!"

YAGODA: "You know, it's sort of a cliche, it's also sort of a sloppy¹¹ way of thinking and writing."

RS: "So how would you say that without using that cliche?"

YAGODA: "Well, it's a hedge word, because without using it you have to say what you really think."

AA: Ben Yagoda says the new thing in cliches is the growing popularity of African American slang beyond black neighborhoods.

TAPE: CUT THREE -- YAGODA

"The ones that came to mind were things like 'you go, girlfriend,' 'back in the day, we had it going on,' 'it was old school in the 'hood¹² -- we were keeping it real, 'don't diss that playa -- show him some love, or I'll hit you upside the head,' 'yo, what it is.' You know, African American slang has been historically a very, very rich source of great stuff for the language. The problem is the cliche aspect, also the sort of poseur¹³ aspect -- it had a certain kind of authenticity¹⁴ in one context, but if you have a fourteen-year-old suburban¹⁵ white kid saying it, there's something that doesn't quite fit."

AA: English Professor Ben Yagoda at the University of Delaware. And, as cliched as it may sound, that's all for this week on Wordmaster.

RS: Our address is [email protected] or write to VOA Wordmaster, Washington DC two-zero-two-three-seven USA. With Avi Arditti, I'm Rosanne Skirble.

MUSIC: "It Takes Blood and Guts to Be This Cool, but I'm Still Just a Cliche"/Skunk Anasie

1 cliche   

n./a.陈词滥调(的)；老生常谈(的)；陈腐的

参考例句：

• You should always try to avoid the use of cliche. 你应该尽量避免使用陈词滥调。
• The old cliche is certainly true:the bigger car do mean bigger profits.有句老话倒的确说得不假:车大利大。

2 euphemism   

n.婉言，委婉的说法

参考例句：

• Language reflects culture and euphemism is a mirror of culture.语言反映文化,而婉语则是各种文化的一面镜子。
• Euphemism is a very common and complicated linguistic phenomenon.委婉语是一种十分常见而又非常复杂的语言现象。

3 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

5 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

6 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

7 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。

8 synonym   

n.同义词，换喻词

参考例句：

• Zhuge Liang is a synonym for wisdom in folklore.诸葛亮在民间传说中成了智慧的代名词。
• The term 'industrial democracy' is often used as a synonym for worker participation. “工业民主”这个词常被用作“工人参与”的同义词。

9 metaphors   

隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I can only represent it to you by metaphors. 我只能用隐喻来向你描述它。
• Thus, She's an angel and He's a lion in battle are metaphors. 因此她是天使，他是雄狮都是比喻说法。

10 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

11 sloppy   

adj.邋遢的，不整洁的

参考例句：

• If you do such sloppy work again,I promise I'll fail you.要是下次作业你再马马虎虎，我话说在头里，可要给你打不及格了。
• Mother constantly picked at him for being sloppy.母亲不断地批评他懒散。

12 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

13 poseur   

n.装模作样的人

参考例句：

• He had been railed against by them as a prig and a poseur.他们责骂他是一个沾沾自喜、装腔作势的人。
• I am sometimes accused of being an inveterate poseur.有时有人说我惯于装模作样。

14 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

15 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。