It goes without saying, and for all intents and purposes, CLICHES should be avoided at this point in time...

Welcome to Writerly Wednesday at The QoP!  I hope I'm posting this in a timely fashion.  Wouldn't want the cold shoulder from you.  I do try to offer up entertaining, useful tidbits for my lovely followers...wouldn't want you all to kick me to the curb, after all.  :)

(you caught all the "blech", right?  Smarty pants - I KNEW you would!)

So, if you missed me gushing about the Grammar Divas workshop I went to a few weeks ago - you can read about it HERE.  And if you did catch it, you know that I promised to share some fabulous tip I learned.  I decided to go with cliches, euphemisms, and idioms.  We use them all the time.  Heck!  They crop up in my writing ALL the time.  BUT, as the writing world continues to tell us...and frankly, I agree...using these common, overused phrases in your writing steals away your voice, your style and your tone.

Here's a handy list I got from the fab Grammar Divas of cliches, euphemisms, and idioms to watch for in your writing:

ace in the hold                       goes to show                      sick and tired
all wet                                     goes without saying           sigh of relief
as a matter of fact                 high and mighty                  significant other
at this point in time                in a nut shell                        sneaking suspicion
babe in the woods                 in a timely fashion              take exception
before long                             in place of                           take offense to
behind the eight ball              kick to the curb                   time and time again
better safe than sorry            knuckle under                      the long and short
cold shoulder                          like the plague                    tip of the iceberg
couldn't care less                   long and short of it              tried and true
day in and day out                  on the part of                       under the gun
down and dirty                        on thin ice                             wakeup call
fear and trembling                  par for the course                whole other story
few and far between               poor excuse for              window of opportunity
fly in the face of                       put on an act                         sick and tired
for all intents and purposes   rock and a hard place          sigh of relief


Now, I'll have to say that I'm of the opinion that eliminating ALL of these phrases from your writing may not be necessary.  Let's face it - this is how the world talks.  But, overusing them in your writing....well, ultimately your call.  Tell me - What's one cliche, euphemism or idiom that just makes you cringe when you read it?  What's your take on using them in writing?