Friday, July 18, 2008

I Hate When They Try to "Bend" the Cliché

It never works.

In a Thursday, July 17, deck about Billy Joel's concert at Shea Stadium, Newsday had this phrase:

". . . and happiest when he's firmly on home base"

Ummm, it's home plate, in baseball. And no one is ever  on it. 

They stand beside it or at it, crouch behind it, cross it, touch it, step on it (and if they're the batter, they could be called out for doing so). 

So, only dirt is *on* the plate, and it's not supposed to be there, either.  (hence the plate brush: check out this cartoon--
http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/dre0781l.jpg)


Home base is for tag, or the military, or the Roomba.

So, that cliché didn't work.


That same day, I got a promo package in the mail from M&Ms/Mars, with a line that said

"M&Ms is getting even sweeter on weddings"

You can be sweet on someone or something (usually a "...one," not a "...thing"). But it's weird to be getting sweeter on someone.

So, that one didn't work either. 

What cliché(s) have you seen someone bend beyond recognition lately?

No comments: