Cliches that grate
1. HR departments referring to people as "resources" just as buildings and computers are resources.
2. Lotto assistant Pat says "you've got to be in to win" wears very thin too.
3. Catherine works in a cafe and says at least three times a day she hears, "Oh, they are all different aren't they" in regards to Eftpos machine models. "Apparently they are quite difficult to use."
4. Richard Holland finds misusing cliches grates ... such as saying "the proof is in the pudding" instead of "the proof of the pudding is in the eating".
5. Stephen Knight became a bit tired of management cliches so came up with a compounded version which suits many occasions: "Giving people a heads-up going forward to maximise potential synergies across several silo-ed platforms thereby ensuring policy-relevant key performance indicators that are time-bound and minimise positivism deficits."
6. "How about 'intestinal fortitude'?" says this reader. "Come on, if you want to say 'guts', say 'guts'. If you don't, what's wrong with calling it courage?"
7. Alan MacDonald of Takapuna says. "Personally, I avoid cliches like the plague!"
Intoxicating plant names
A reader writes: "The Drunken Woman lettuce is a very tasty variety. Years ago I used to grow the rose Tipsy Imperial Concubine. Now that name raised eyebrows!"