Cliché

A recent radio programme was lamenting the number of clichés being used by presenters and newsreaders. It made me wonder when something becomes a cliché. How many times does a phrase have to be used before it qualifies, and why do some phrases escape the label? After all, no-one says "God is love" is a cliché.

I suppose repetition and meaninglessness have to be qualities of a good cliché. Politicians have a particular skill at their deployment, along with the legendary linguistic skills of English football managers. Ernest Bevin once described a fellow politician as "clitch after clitch" (His pronunciation left a little to be desired!) I am sure we can agree on that, but what about Christian clichés? Maybe we ought to try and start a list.

Please contribute, because at the end of the day, I'll be over the moon to hear from you and sick as a parrot if I don't.