Idioms and Clichés

Many people struggle with grasping these two concepts. Idioms and clichés are two different things. While idioms can be clichés and clichés can be idioms, they must be kept separate.

So, what is the difference between an idiom and a cliché?

An idiom is an expression. Its meaning is not predictable from the usual grammatical rules of a language or from the usual meanings of the expression's constituent elements. Example, the expression kick the bucket meaning “to die” has nothing to do with kicking or buckets. However, the entire expression has a set meaning that is familiar to most people. Idioms can be analysed with regards to how idiomatic they are, and there is not necessarily agreement about whether or not something is an idiom. The word “idiom” is usually positive, and people use “idiom” to refer to expressions that they approve of but that are otherwise problematic.

A cliché is a word or phrase that has been overused to the point of having lost its freshness or vigour. It can be a fashionable phrase (“at the end of the day...”), a proverb (“don't count your chickens...”), a simile (“strong as an ox”), or a single word (“Whatever.”). The word cliché is almost always pejorative, and people are told to avoid them (“Avoid clichés like the plague,” as one self-referential joke has it).

An idiom can be a cliché. In fact, it’s likely that many idioms will be somewhat clichéd. However, it does not have to be; and clichés are by no means always idioms.

For clichés, on the one hand, to overuse that expression, one should try to avoid hackneyed language.

Idioms that are not clichés will rarely bother anyone, as long as the meaning of the idiom is not ambiguous.