I’ve got a bug in my bonnet. It’s true, but it’s also an example of an idiom, a phrase or saying that has meaning outside of its literal meaning, i.e. something is bothering me. And that something is when an idiom becomes a cliché. I still remember the first time I read, “Like water off a duck’s back.” I thought that is such a unique way to describe having no effect. That author used the idiom two more times in that book. Then it seemed like every other book I read used the idiom. Do I just read books with fowl-loving authors? Or has it surpassed the benchmark from idiom to cliché in writing? Maybe.
But there is one idiom that I argue has long surpassed the idiom mark and is squarely in cliché territory. Some authors use it prolifically and I argue that I see at least one use in most books I read. “He/She turned on their heel…” I first heard about its overuse in a writing class discussing J.K. Rowling’s overuse in one of (I think the fifth) the Harry Potter books. Ever since then, it’s been like a big red flag for me while reading. I can’t help but notice when an author uses it multiple times in a novel.
If you’re an author, do yourself a favor and search for how many times the word ‘heel’ is used in your writing. Then, how many of those uses of heel are associated with the turning of it. Is it all the uses? Is the only time we as a community discuss heels is to describe the turning on it?
I find myself becoming obsessed with how obsessively authors use this idiom to describe leaving a room after a disagreement or a desire for a character not to continue the conversation. So obsessed that I started to research where the idiom comes from and when authors started using it. Shakespeare used the idiom in Macbeth. Dictionary.com says the first use was from 1751. A coworker told me the phrase refers to how you’re supposed to turn in the military. I texted my brother to ask if he was ever taught that was how one turned in the military (still waiting to hear back from him). A website said the phrase came from Roman soldiers that had nails in their sandals to turn more easily on their heels. But, if it really comes from Roman footwear and military strategy, why is the first use in 1751?
Regardless of the origins, the phrase is being overused in my opinion, particularly in the fantasy genre. If the vast percentage of books in a particular genre are using the same idiom, isn’t that proof that it has become cliché? If an author is using the idiom multiple times in the same novel, or overusing it throughout their career, isn’t that definitive proof that it has become a cliché for that author to describe storming off?
Further evidence that this idiom has become cliché is that the idiom can describe two things: an abrupt change in direction or opinion. How many times have you read “turned on their heel” and it hasn’t meant leaving a room in a huff? I can’t think of a single instance that I’ve read of an author using it to describe a change in opinion, just a change in direction. And then, aren’t we straying into the territory of the idiom being taken literally? Have you ever tried to turn on your heel and leave a room? It’s an awkward movement that involves pendulating your body or other leg to spin on your heel.
If every time an author used “like water off a duck’s back” they were referring to the physical properties of a droplet rolling off a hydrophobic surface, would we give it the same pass that we’ve given “turned on their heel?” The dragon’s scales repelled the fire, like water off a duck’s back. The slime slid off the metal, like water off a duck’s back. The water cascaded down the grease monster, like water off a duck’s back.
I’ve talked to others about this idiom (turning on one’s heel), and I’ve seen the same lightbulb moment in their eyes when I mention its overuse. Everyone remembers reading this phrase multiple times, but has trouble placing which books its overused in. But I can guarantee, that like me, now that they’ve been made aware of its overuse, every use in a book will stick out. In summation, authors, let’s try and figure out other ways of saying someone is leaving a room after an argument. Readers, let’s hold authors accountable for turning idioms cliché. When a book takes an idiom and overuses it to the point that people notice, let’s call that book out, even if it’s the fifth in the series that we’ve been waiting a full year to read. Maybe authors will turn on their heels and rethink overusing idioms to the point that they become cliché.
Be First to Comment