AVOID CLICHÉS

A cliché is an expression that has been overused. As a result, it sounds stale and dull. In fact, as soon as you begin to hear or read a cliché, you can predict how it will end.

Read the following sentences and try to figure out how the clichés in them will end:

Watch for clichés as you rewrite the drafts of your papers. Make one last check for clichés as you edit your final draft. Trust your instincts to come up with alternatives that are clearer, more appealing, less wordy, and often more specific than clichés are.

A LIST OF CLICHÉS

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CREATE AN APPROPRIATE TONE

Tone is the style in which you express yourself. Your tone may vary depending upon purpose and audience. For example, if you are writing a letter to a friend, you might use an informal tone and include slang, jargon, colloquialisms, and contractions. If you are writing a college essay, on the other hand, you will want to use a formal tone.

To maintain a formal tone, avoid slang, jargon, and colloquialisms. Also, choose language carefully and include only idiomatic expressions.

AVOIDING SLANG

Slang is language that has a private and often short-lived meaning. Slang can be very powerful, but it is often inexact and is usually understood by only a select group.

For example, teenagers often use words that their parents have never heard of and that are not found in contemporary newspapers, textbooks, and the like.

AVOIDING JARGON EXCEPT WITH SPECIAL AUDIENCES

Jargon is language used by experts in a particular field. It includes technical words, new compounds, and familiar words used in a unique way. Jargon is appropriate as long as your readers are familiar with the field from which it comes. But jargon can make your writing complicated and unclear to those who are unfamiliar with such language.

AVOIDING COLLOQUIALISMS

Colloquial expressions, while not always incorrect, are informal and more appropriate in spoken conversation among friends than in formal writing.

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