Jul 06, 2023 06:00:00

What are the eight literary clichés and their origins, such as 'they lived long' and 'it was a dark and stormy night'?

There are many phrases that are derived from 'idioms' or 'cliches' that are often used in stories, such as 'once upon a time'. If you use clichés indiscriminately, they may give you a bad impression because they will think that it is 'again'. About eight well-used idioms in English literature,

Mental Floss 's team, which deals with print and digital magazines based in New York, explains ``the origin, the source material where the expression first appeared''.

Before They Were Cliches: On the Origins of 8 Worn Out Idioms ‹ Literary Hub
https://lithub.com/before-they-were-cliches-on-the-origins-of-8-worn-out-idioms/

◆ 1: Happily Ever After
Everyone has probably heard stories in fairy tales that end with the phrase, ``In this way, they lived happily ever after.'' 'Happily ever after' is expressed as 'happily, ever after' in English, but this cliché is said to be derived from ' Decameron ' written by Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio in the 14th century. . 'Decameron' is a collection of 100 stories, 10 stories each told by 10 people. , ever after (in this way they were very affectionate and lived happily ever after)', which is the origin of the cliché. In addition, 'Ever After' means 'eternity', and from the historical background when 'Decameron' was written, it does not mean 'until you die', but 'enjoying eternal bliss in the world after death'. It is believed that

◆ 2: Add Insult to Injury (Crying bee)
In English, an idiom that emphasizes ``adding insults to insults'' by ``Add Insult'' to ``Injury'' is used. The origin of this phrase is said to be the invention of Aesop's fable ' The Bald Man and the Fly'. The fly bites the man's head and the man hits his head trying to dispel the fly, so the fly teases the man, ``What did you do to humiliate yourself?'' From here, it came to be used as a phrase to refer to 'any action that makes a bad situation worse'.

◆ 3: Albatross Around Your Neck (You can tie an albatross to your neck)
From the representative work of

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, an 18th-century British romantic poet, ' Old Sailor's Line ', the idiomatic expression ``to be tied around the neck with an albatross'' means ``to carry a burden'' or ``to cause trouble''. is now used. Seabirds are believed to bring good luck in the folklore of those who touch the sea. So, in 'Old Mariner's Trip,' a sailor shoots a harmless albatross, bringing misfortune to the entire crew. To prevent this, sailors are forced to live with a dead albatross around their necks. From this, the image of 'a short-tailed albatross wrapped around the neck' permeated as an expression to express 'an unavoidable unpleasant duty or situation.'

◆ 4: Forever and a Day
The phrase 'Forever and a Day' has become quite common as an exaggeration for 'a really long time.' According to Mental Floss, the phrase was popularized by

William Shakespeare 's comedy The Taming of the Shrew written in 1594, and although it is often thought that Shakespeare coined the phrase, It is said that it is another writer.

The phrase 'eternity and one day' is believed to have first appeared in the 15th-century German thinker and writer Ulrich von Hatten's treatise ' de Morbo Gallico '. In 'de Morbo Gallico' there is a description of a disease in France, namely syphilis. I want you to say goodbye for the days.” This has been interpreted as a rhyming use of ``aye'' and ``day'' to the old phrase ``Forever and aye'', which used the word ``aye'' to mean ``all the future, not just the present''. increase. Shakespeare likes to use this phrase 'eternity and one day', and it seems that it will also appear in the comedy ' As you like it ' written around 1600.

◆ 5: It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (It was a dark stormy night)
As an introduction to a disturbing and frightening story, we may begin by saying, 'It was a dark and stormy night...' ' Paul Clifford ' by 19th century British politician and novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton is well known for the opening phrase 'It was a dark and stormy night ...', but this phrase is now is often parodied with derisive intent as 'bad writing' or 'a classic example of a melodramatic writing style'. However, Bulwer-Lytton is known as a representative writer for using `` It was a dark and stormy night '' at the beginning of the story, but according to Mental Floss, `` Paul Clifford '' is published dozens It is said that the phrase itself was often used from a year ago.

◆ 6: Little Did They Know (They did not know)
There is an idiomatic expression for 'they knew very little' that is 'Little Did They Know' instead of 'They knew nothing.' According to an article in The Airship magazine by an author named George Dobbs, the cliché first appeared in works published in the 19th century and was popularized by adventure magazines from the 1930s to the 1950s. This inverted phrase has captured the hearts and minds of suspense writers for generations.

◆ 7: Not to Put Too Fine a Point on It (without details)
Charles Dickens , a novelist representing the British Victorian era, is well known even today for his works such as ' A Christmas Carol ' and ' David Copperfield ', as well as 'flummox' and ' It is also famous for creating and spreading many words and idioms such as 'abuzz' and 'Christmassy'. The phrase 'Not to Put Too Fine a Point on It', first seen in Dickens' mid-19th-century novel ' Bleak House ', means 'to speak plainly without elaborating'. is used repeatedly.

◆ 8: Pot Calling the Kettle Black (the pot says the kettle is black)
In the days when cast-iron kitchen utensils were the norm, it was common for pots and kettles to turn black as they would get dirty with black soot if used for a long time. Therefore, ``the pot says the kettle is black'' is used as an idiom of ``putting oneself on the shelf and blaming others'', such as ``laughing at the dizzy booger'', and in English-speaking Internet slang, PKB It is sometimes written as The origin of this phrase in the English-speaking world is said to be Don Quixote's line in the 1620 English translation by Thomas Shelton of the Spanish novel ' Don Quixote ' by Miguel de Cervantes . In Shelton's translation, 'You are like what is said that the frying-pan said to the kettle,'Avant, black-browes'. 'The pot calls the pan burnt-arse.' ” is recorded. From there, the metaphor changed little by little, and the expression 'the pot says the kettle is black' became common.

Erin McCarthy, editor-in-chief of Mental Floss, says, 'Readers sometimes stop reading when there are overused phrases. Clichés are seen as a sign of lazy writing, but overnight When it first appeared in print, many of the modern clichés were read as fresh and evocative, and continue to be imitated to this day.' .