Grammar Rules: Habits Of Speech To Avoid

Habits of speech have a tendency to creep into our writing. Things that are accepted or ignore in everyday conversations should be avoided when writing. Have you ever said, or heard, something like this?

The movie starts at 7.30 pm at night.
Her dress was the colour of blue.
The final score was dismal at the end of the game.
I’m telling the truth, he was killed to death!
I ride my two-wheel bicycle for twenty minutes each day.

These are tautologies. A tautology is saying the same thing twice. Let’s look at those examples again.

The movie starts at 7.30 pm at night.

There is no need to indicate it’s at night as the ‘pm’ already tells us this.

The movie starts at 7.30 pm.

Her dress was the colour of blue.

Blue is a colour.

Her dress was blue.

The final score was dismal at the end of the game.

A final score indicates the end of the game.

The final score was dismal.

I’m telling the truth, he was killed to death!

Some times when we try to emphasis a point we can fall into the trap of over doing it. Dead is dead; there are no in-betweens.

I’m telling the truth, he was killed!

However, it is okay to say, ‘He was stabbed to death’, because people can survive a stabbing.

I ride my two-wheel bicycle for twenty minutes each day.

Bicycle means a two-wheeled bike.

I ride my bicycle for twenty minutes each day.

Some tautologies stand out, but some are used in everyday conversations so they can go unnoticed. Keep a look out for them, and then avoid them.

What do all of the following have in common?

Needle in a haystack.
Not over until it’s over.
Plenty of fish in the sea.
A hard slog.
Kicked the bucket.
Beat a dead horse, or flog a dead horse, or whatever variation of it.

They are clichés. I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but it’s amazing how often they still manage to slip in. Any phrase or expression which is overused is a cliché and shouldn’t be used. If you have a character that has a tendency to use such phrases when talking, then of course you’ll probably want to use a couple to enforce this character trait, but don’t over do it. Usually overdone expressions annoy people, especially when reading. There is nothing that can ruin a story faster for me then when I see cliché after cliché. I feel disappointed when they are in a published book by a professional author. It’s as if the author didn’t care enough about his or her readers to take an extra five minutes to think of another way of saying it.

A simple rule: if you’ve heard it before, and pretty sure most other people have then don’t use it. Be creative, and think how else you can say it or describe it.