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Thursday, March 17, 2005
Cricketing Cliche 25
Positive frame of mind.
Younis Khan said today in his press conference that he was in a "positive frame of mind", which basically means that he was positive. After all, you cannot be in a positive frame of body. I see nothing wrong in Younis using this phrase. Firstly, it is more important for writers to avoid cliches than other non-writing souls. Secondly, English is not his first language, and he is, by all accounts, eloquent and articulate in Urdu.
But when writers use the phrase repeatedly, then it gets a bit much. "Younis Khan was in a positive frame of mind," they will write, "and was [cliche coming up] quick to pounce on whatever bad balls came his way." Words like "punish" and "merciless" and "brutal" will be used, and you'll feel like you're at school again, and anybody with loose balls will be "put away".
Younis Khan said today in his press conference that he was in a "positive frame of mind", which basically means that he was positive. After all, you cannot be in a positive frame of body. I see nothing wrong in Younis using this phrase. Firstly, it is more important for writers to avoid cliches than other non-writing souls. Secondly, English is not his first language, and he is, by all accounts, eloquent and articulate in Urdu.
But when writers use the phrase repeatedly, then it gets a bit much. "Younis Khan was in a positive frame of mind," they will write, "and was [cliche coming up] quick to pounce on whatever bad balls came his way." Words like "punish" and "merciless" and "brutal" will be used, and you'll feel like you're at school again, and anybody with loose balls will be "put away".
