“____, it seems, is having a moment.”
Philly Mag inspired this post today by using this phase to describe gourmet hot dogs. No hard feelings to the fine folks at the magazine, but the quote “is having a moment” turns up 277,000 Google results in less than a second. Sriracha, Zoe Strauss, Roy Halladay, velvet, fried animal skin, breastfeeding, cognac, Israel, Miranda Lambert, bread, neon, biz dev, Georges Méliès, musical theater, intrauterine devices (the IUD), the city of Chicago, gold lip gloss and synthetic pot are all, it seems, having a moment.
It made me think about some of the lazy or sneakily cliche phrases that appear in my own writing now (there are only so many ways to make advertorial profiles seem appealing), back when I was a cub reporter covering events with all the finesse of a baby giraffe, and across the industry overall.
Here are a few ideas off the top. I have most likely almost certainly used every one of these before and will try my damnedest not to use them again.
- “Despite the weather, the rain couldn’t dampen their spirits.” Used by every cub or student reporter in coverage of any outdoor event that gets rained out. Write it if you must, but then go back and delete that sentence before you file the story. Just cut it.
- “In today’s difficult economy/times/world…” and now “As the economy begins to show signs of life/pick up/improve…“ It’s easy to use, but just as easy to find another way to describe what’s happening.
- ”A hidden gem…“ This one, especially in food writing. Your soup isn’t a gem. It’s a soup.
- "So good, even carnivores will be pleased/sated/fooled/full/love it.” Will fully admit to using this one when I was a vegan blogger, and more than once. So have many others. But seriously, there are better descriptors for vegan/vegetarian/raw/gluten-free food than the fact that omnivores will eat it too.
- “Flurry of activity." I have used this both in food writing and news writing. Unless it’s fucking snowing, there are other ways to describe a lot of things happening at one time in one place. Also, if it is snowing, don’t you dare call it "the white stuff.” That’s for the dolts on TV.
- “Mouth-watering." My mouth has never actually watered when a waiter brings out my food. Plus this just sounds gross. Whenever I see this, I’m immediately taken away from the story. See also: yummy and delicious, though I shouldn’t even have to mention that.
- "Iconic” What does iconic really mean anymore? What are you really trying to convey? A quick search reveals this term used to describe London’s Big Ben, the movie Blade Runner, Zippo lighters, a gay piano bar in L.A. and Courtney Stodden within the past 24 hours.
- “Turn the industry on its head” Variations of this appear in tech writing with every product launch, but recently saw this in press releases for a kids product and a line of ugly suede shoes. After searching this phrase, I see that Toyota, Samsung, Panasonic, Google, Adam Lambert and an open world game by Ubisoft will all be turning some things on some heads, so congratulations everyone.
- “Resto” “Rezzi/rezzie” Ok, these aren’t cliches just yet, but they make me cringe whenever I see them. What’s wrong with just saying restaurant or reservation? Maybe I’m just not hip enough to like this abbreviation, but I’d prefer if it stopped now.
- Anything “–gate.” Just no. Stop using this forever. Not even as a joke.
I know I’ve been guilty (still am, sometimes) of using lazy solutions or cliches when I need to just get the damn story done. But I promise not to use these anymore.
Any suggestions on what to add to this list?