A cliché is a phrase used over and over and over and over, or an element of artistic work that occurs in films or music just as often. So is there a better candidate for a Day of the Year than ‘Cliché Day’? After all, it comes up over and over and over and over, just like its namesake! If you’re the kind of person who tries to avoid tired old clichés for fear of sounding stupid, this is the day to get them all out of your system in one bound and never have to think about them again until next year.
Cliché Day is the day to advise your brother to ‘seize the day’ (or just exclaim ‘YOLO’ at random moments), accuse your spouse of being ‘drunk as a skunk’, tell your best friend she ‘means the world to you’. In a nutshell, it’s all fine and dandy on this particular day, so go with the flow.
History of Cliché Day
The word “cliché” comes from French. It was originally an onomatopoeia describing the sound a printing plate (also called a stereotype) from movable type made when it was used. Because of this, the word’s meaning slowly evolved to mean a ready-made phrase that no thought was put into writing, and that definition has stuck, and the word “cliché” can be used both as an adjective and a noun.
How to Celebrate Cliché Day
Clichés can be annoying due to both their predictability and lack of any true meaning. However, they can also be amusing for these exact same reasons, so why not take advantage of Cliché Day to have a bit of fun with them and get them out of your system until next year? A great way to do this is watch a movie—romantic comedies and horror movies, in particular, tend to be rife with clichés used shamelessly over and over again that have long since stopped provoking the reaction or emotional response they were meant to in the first place.
So make some popcorn, grab a soft drink and sit back to chuckle as that obviously gorgeous woman whose looks have been underplayed for the first part of the film shocks everyone speechless when she finally puts on some clothes that fit her properly and brushes her hair. Or at that career-obsessed man who fell for a small-town girl run to the airport to declare his love and commitment just in time to stop her plane from leaving after they’d broken up and you were sure there was no hope for their love.
Or at the “meet cute” where both parties accidentally fall right into each other and fall deeply in love. If you prefer scarier films, rest assured that there is not a shortage of “he’s behind you” moments in horror movies or groups of party-crazy teens who choose the dirtiest, creepiest cabin in the entire forest to spend a weekend in together. A whole family got murdered here just last month and the killer was never found? No problem, we’ll take it! What was that strange noise in the bushes? Let’s split up and go take a look!
At the end of the day, ‘Cliché Day’ is just a bit of fun. You’d have to be crazy as a loon to let it drive you up the wall, for crying out loud!
