Why clichés weaken writing
A cliché was once vivid; repetition wore it smooth. Readers glide past “at the end of the day”, “think outside the box” or “a perfect storm” without picturing anything. The fix is usually to say the specific thing you mean.
Textkiln checks against a hand-curated list of several hundred clichés and stock phrases (including the newer ones that crowd online and machine-generated text, like “in today’s fast-paced world”, “delve into”, “a testament to” and “navigate the complexities”).
Buzzwords
Turn on Buzzwords to also flag corporate jargon: leverage, synergy, paradigm shift, circle back, best-in-class, seamless, robust, empower, unlock. These words promise a lot and specify little. Replace them with the concrete action or result: “leverage our data” → “use last year’s sales figures”.
Not every match is wrong
Some phrases on the list are fine in context (“bottom line” is literal in accounting, “state of the art” is a standard term in some fields). Use Ignore for those, and focus on the ones that are filling space.
Worked example
Here is what the Cliché & Buzzword Finder returns for its built-in example. Settings used: Include buzzwords: on. Click Try an example in the tool above to load it, then change it as you like.
In order to succeed, the report was written by the team in a timely manner. It is important to note that the results were very, very good.
Basically, at the end of the day, we really need to think outside the box and leverage our synergy. Their is a lot of work to do, and the the deadline is close.
The chairman said that you guys should of known better. Its a fact that the data was analysed carefully and the color of the charts was chosen for clarity.| Found | Type | Suggestion |
|---|---|---|
| “at the end of the day” | Cliché | — |
| “think outside the box” | Cliché | — |
| “leverage” | Buzzword | — |
| “synergy” | Buzzword | — |
Questions
What is a cliché?
An overused phrase or idea that has lost its impact through repetition, such as “at the end of the day” or “think outside the box”.
Does it detect AI-sounding phrases?
It flags many stock phrases common in generated text, such as “delve into”, “rich tapestry” and “in today’s digital age”. It does not try to judge whether text was written by AI.
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