Cliches. Organic. Bully pulpit. Fimfy.

Cliches. Organic. Bully pulpit. Fimfy.

951. In honor of National Cliché day, we uncover why some overused phrases rub us the wrong way. What is the boundary between idioms, slang, and clichés—and should we give "adulting" a break? Then, we trace the 700-year history of "organic," from bodily organs to natural growth, and ask whether using a bully pulpit makes someone a bad person.

The "cliche" segment was written by Kirk Hazen, a professor of linguistics at West Virginia University, and Jordan Lovejoy, a visiting assistant professor of American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It first appeared on The Conversation and appears here through a Creative Commons license (BY-ND 4.0).

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Avsnitt(967)

288 Compound Nouns

288 Compound Nouns

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284 Who Says “Fun” Can’t Be an Adjective?

284 Who Says “Fun” Can’t Be an Adjective?

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14 Juli 20113min

283 Did Oxford Drop the Oxford Comma?

283 Did Oxford Drop the Oxford Comma?

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282 "Each Other" Versus "One Another"

282 "Each Other" Versus "One Another"

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280 Whoever or Whomever?

280 Whoever or Whomever?

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16 Juni 20116min

279 Capitalizing Titles

279 Capitalizing Titles

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9 Juni 20117min

275 Camel Case

275 Camel Case

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274 Double Subjects

274 Double Subjects

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