Good afternoon DailyKos.
As a sober and studious lover of the English language, I am writing this diary to stop the brutal exploitation of some innocent words. I have noticed that certain phrases are being figuratively worked to death on this site. I now must implore you, their Kossack taskmasters, to give them a reprieve from the tedious labors to which you submit them.
Continue below the fold for my humanitarian proposal.
In order to both improve the quality of the average diary, and to save some innocent phrases from the doom of cliche, I propose a one month moratorium on the use of the following worn-out adages.
This is not a comprehensive list, and I will happily take suggestions from the comments and update as necessary.
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- Beyond the pale.
This appears in fifty diaries a day, and is rarely used correctly. I humbly suggest the following adjectives to serve as replacements: outrageous, abominable, egregious, shameless, unbearable.
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- When push comes to shove... AND At the end of the day...
These phrases are disturbingly hackneyed. When you're discussing a topic conclusively or fundamentally, I suggest you use those words.
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- In the long run...
Not every long term scenario is a footrace. Without further description this phrase has no definitive meaning. Replace it with a specific time frame.
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- This day and age.
We will assume you're talking about today unless you specify otherwise. Very few ideas are unique to the present, and your writing will be more forceful without this cliche. Leave it out.
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- Sign of the times.
This phrase has no meaning. Every event shapes the future and reflects the past. If you want to discuss differences from one time period to another please be specific about the changes you've seen.
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This is only the beginning, for those phrases in most desperate need of a break.
It's time we exercised the superb English vocabulary. I will update with suggestions from the comments. Please... think of the words.