It is easy to deride the humble cliché. Some
people suggest that every use of a cliché is somehow
wrong, or else it demonstrates a sad degree of laziness on the
part of the speaker. A weed, as my schoolmaster
used to say, is simply a plant in the wrong place; and a
cliché can be a phrase in the wrong place - but then
again, it can be gloriously right and appropriate.
Imagine I am writing a story. The hero is honest
and straightforward: he says 'now'. The protagonist
is a pompous windbag, as you can tell when he says 'at this
moment in time'. The choice of when and where to use
a cliché says a great deal about our character and
background - it tells people about who we are.
Or imagine at work we have an important decision to make. It
involves some risk, and there is a temptation to put off making
it. I say that we must 'grasp the
nettle'. It is a simple, effective phrase which
conveys a clear meaning. We can all understand and
relate to the image, and the metaphor is direct and
appropriate. A picture says a thousand words, and
these three words paint a picture which communicates a truth
about our situation, and communicates this truth on several
levels.
What are the alternatives to 'grasp the nettle'?
You can 'grasp the opportunity', but that misses the element of
risk. You can 'take the risk', but that implies the
hearer is hesitating out of cowardice. You can
pinch, hold or squeeze the nettle, but none are as dynamic as
'grasp', and each of them raises a doubt in the hearer about
what the speaker is intending to imply.
Another point often missed is our tremendous capacity for
irony. Clichés like 'to coin a phrase'
inject an ironic and self depreciating note into the
conversation. Sometimes it means: I know what I am
about to say is hackneyed, but I can't find a better way to say
it. In other cases, the irony raises itself to the
level of a Public Health Warning: when I say 'to be perfectly
honest...' I am telling the hearer to be careful.
What follows may not be the whole truth, or it may be truth that
you will find unpleasant.
As with all language, clichés can be used carelessly and
ineffectively, but many of them have associations and resonances
which ideally suit them for particular purposes.
Even if there were no other advantage, they are familiar and
non-threatening, so if I want to communicate in language which is
familiar and non-threatening, they can deliver the desired tone
in a gentle and graceful way.