Day 55

Idioms and hackneyed phrases

There are many opinions on writing, for instance:

Never begin a sentence with a conjunction

Dispense with Literary elegance, erudition and sophistication

and the big one, banish jargon, hackneyed phrases and needless Latin.

WTF – needless Latin? I never went to a posh English Grammar school so I wouldn’t know Latin from a Haggis.

I have to say when I was at school reading books like Billy Bunter’s Adventures, I wanted to go to a boarding school, have a half-day holiday on Wednesday, and sneak off to the nearby village to stuff my face with all manner of cakes.

Can’t say I liked to play ‘Rugger’ though. Sport is not my thing.

But…

It’s not always a good idea to use one, especially if the readers are not familiar with them. It might work with a local readership but when you’re striving for an international audience, don’t confuse them.

Black as the ace of spades might work, but a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush is completely indecipherable.

As for my writing, there is always a possibility one might sneak in, and if it does, you can always find what it means by Googling it.