Tip:
Have you ever tried to think of that cliché for a specific topic? Go to Cliché Finder and enter a word such as "Teach." Up will pop a list of tired old trite expressions that you shouldn't dare use but are fun to recognize. For example, how's about:
- you can't teach an old dog new tricks
- give a man a fish, feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, feed him for life
- don't bother trying to teach a pig to sing; you only waste your time and annoy the pig.
Here's a few of the other cliché websites:
Words in Words
Another site by the same author, Morgan Friedman, is Words in Words, a fun site with a long list of words in words, as shown here. You can use this yourself or with your students. To find any words quickly, use the find feature with your browser. I am using Firefox.
Click Command-F (Mac) or CRTL-F (PC) to bring up the Find feature in the status bar.
Next Tip: The Literacy Project
