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A Perfect Storm of Perfect Storm Clichés

A perfect storm of perfect storm clichés

The other day, I heard it again. Someone on a news segments said such and such is a “perfect storm.” It was the first time that week I heard this and it wasn’t about the same topic. It is time we officially admit we have a problem with the perfect storm cliché.

unrecognizable person with umbrella on beach
Photo by Dziana Hasanbekava on Pexels.com

I went to Google and searched the phrase, “perfect storm.” The results didn’t surprise me. As of January 15, 2022 there are…

Mind you, I expect some of the general search to be about the real life event, the book by Sebastian Junger, and movie. If you search this phrase on Amazon, you get over 930 results. However, are we getting to the point that it is losing its meaning?

News reporters and interviewees are using this cliché to describe supply chain issues, the pandemic, inflation, worker shortages, data privacy, crimes, climate change, and yes, weather events. How many perfect storms can there be? Is everything perfectly stormy now?

Perfect Storm Cliches or Clichés?

It may look pretentious to add the accent mark in “cliché”. But it is one of those words English speakers have borrowed from French. Can anybody pronounce it correctly with the accent mark? Without it, most of us would go around saying “Klich.” Nobody wants that!

I like clichés. They have served me well over the years as an illustrator and cartoonist. I have always loved to take something we have come to expect and turn a phrase or situation into the unexpected. Phrases become clichés because they are so popular, everyone begins to use them.

I don’t recall us having a perfect storm cliché problem before the book and movie came out. However, thanks to Wikipedia, I found that “Perfect Storm” has been used at least since the eighteenth century. There must have been something about the 1991 storm that captured the imagination of Americans. Now we can’t help but describe any bad situation as a perfect storm. I don’t know if the phrase is becoming so overused, it has lost its impact and meaning.

However, what I do know is that so many people have been using the phrase in the last couple of years. Is it starting to lose its meaning? Maybe I shouldn’t care that much, but when I heard it again, the cliché began to sound like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. Wait, I am using another cliché to complain about a cliché. I’m not being very helpful, am I?

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Creative Writing webcomic writing

The Secret Guardian of the Front Porch

Cartoon of a man in a porch swing

Cartoon of a middle-age man sitting in a porch swing. He says to a woman, “Care to join me? I’m part of a secret group known as, ‘The Guardians of the Front Porch.'”

Frank had a crush on Edna for a lo-o-o-o-ong time! His adoration for her went all the way to the fourth grade. She was always with her friends on the playground. He would try to get her attention by pretending he didn’t notice her. Unfortunately, that worked too well. Edna didn’t notice Frank until eighth grade.

By that time, Frank was quite sensitive about his acne. He had one pimple that refused to leave until senior high. When they were both juniors, Frank almost asked Edna to the prom. Unfortunately, Percy, “The Rock,” Marbel also had the same idea.

Edna and Percy dated until they both split for college. Frank stayed home after graduation and worked at the local cardboard box factory. The one time Edna returned from college, Frank decided this was the day to meet up with her. Unfortunately, he was boxed in a tragic taping accident and shipped to Des Moines.

Thirty years later, Frank was fully recovered from the unfortunate boxing match. As he sat on his mother’s front porch, he spotted Edna walking downy he street. His lip quivered as he thought what would be the wittiest thing to say. He had just seen a television special on secret societies. What could be wittier than that? He called for Edna. She turned and smiled. She walked up to the porch. Now was Frank’s big chance…

This was part of the Write practice writing prompt entitled, “What is your Character’s Secret?”

 

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Creative Writing

Writing Practice: A Young Prodigy publishes a novel

I am trying something different this morning, thanks to The Write Practice Blog.  Today’s prompt is “A young prodigy has just published his first novel. Write a scene describing how he is handling his new fame and fortune.” So here it goes:

He couldn’t believe it was over. Everything he worked for had now come to this. A fifteen, Ryan had just accomplished the one goal he had since he was old enough to pick up a pen.

“It’s real.” he whispered. “It’s real. Now what?” Ryan checked his stats on Amazon for the fifth time that day. Now he was up to number 3,257,427. Wow! it went up another notch! Now he was in the top 3.5 million!

He searched the room for his cell phone. No new messages. He checked the bars on the phone. At least it looked like there was a good signal. He wondered where were the groupies.

“Well, the only thing to do is to take matters into my own hands,” he said. He Googled the number for the nearest elementary school and called them.

“Hi, I’m Ryan and I am a famous, local teen who has just written a novel about a… okay. I’ll hold.” He waited for ten minutes. The administrative professional came back on the phone.

“Hi, I’m Ryan and I am a famous… okay. Who is the school librarian? Can I talk to her?” He was put on hold again.

“This is crazy,” he said to himself. “How can anybody become famous when they can’t even get a direct line to the school librarian?”

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