The CASE for killing clichés

Well I'm sorry, but none of these make me stagger.

And people don't die. They have "passed away" or, in the case of stage stars, "taken their last bow”. Some of those deaths are "untimely". Women have "lost" their husbands. Funeral attendees are "paying their last respects" in a "final farewell". Burial next? No, the dear departed is "laid to rest".

By far the biggest collection in the CASE box is devoted to "forced”. To me, for someone or something to be "forced" there needs to be an element of force or inevitability. No choice. But let's go through just a few.

Herald Sun: "Shoppers may be forced to pay a 25 cent plastic-bag tax." Is it compulsory to leave a supermarket with goods in a plastic bag? Will the checkout-chick start twisting arms up backs?

Woman's Day page-one headline: "Melanie FORCED to leave Antonio" The story inside reveals two married actors are voluntarily making movies - one in Hollywood and one in Mexico City. Force?

It's not just the Australian media which has a case of the CASEs. Various people are being "forced" according to the Business Standard in India, Middle East Online, Wichita Eagle and the Lake City Reporter.

"Fighting for life" they are in the Rocky Mountains News, Sauk Valley Newspapers, Key West Citizen and the Akron Beacon Journal.

The hunt is on for the Caucasian crooks according to the Watford Observer, Savannah Morning News, Winnipeg Sun, Otago Daily Times and the Malay Mail.

But not every use of a Cliché and Silly Euphemism is incorrect. In 2003, people in Argentina were forced to leave their homes because of flooding. Yes, floodwater was the force. An Age headline of January 1997,"Wind gust forces abrupt end to helicopter joy-flight”, is self-explanatory.

A couple of staggos I reckon are pretty right and descriptive. Racehorse Delago Brom finished "a staggering" 42 and a half lengths from the winner in the Sandown Guineas, November 2002. And 73-year-old Melbourne woman Shirley Young ran 100 kilometres in "a staggering 10 hours 59 minutes" in March 2003.

And finally, a breath of fresh air (yes, a cliché I know). The Herald Sun of June 16, 2001, on page 22 carried an 11-par story {no byline) on Prince Harry and his new girlfriend Lizzy Ward.

Just thrown into the guts of the story was this: "... she and l6-year-old Harry get on like a palace on fire". So it can be done – gently and anonymously. What a sweet dream.