Cliches: the bad guys of the English language, overused, abused, and sniffed at by school teachers? Or do they receive bad press? Are they actually an irreplaceable form of linguistic shorthand? Betty Kirkpatrick, an editor of Roget`s Thesaurus, has exhaustively researched and compiled a list of our most common phrases, presented alphabetically. She provides the origin of each cliche, a humorous example of its use, and explores how a phrase becomes a cliche, when we use them, and why. This dictionary is a must for writers, crossword puzzle buffs, and anyone who is intrigued by language.