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Cliches. Organic. Bully pulpit. Fimfy.

Cliches. Organic. Bully pulpit. Fimfy.

Episode 952 Published 2 years, 4 months ago
Description

951.  In honor of National Cliché day, we uncover why some overused phrases rub us the wrong way. What is the boundary between idioms, slang, and clichés—and should we give "adulting" a break? Then, we trace the 700-year history of "organic," from bodily organs to natural growth, and ask whether using a bully pulpit makes someone a bad person.

The "cliche" segment was written by Kirk Hazen, a professor of linguistics at West Virginia University, and Jordan Lovejoy, a visiting assistant professor of American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It first appeared on The Conversation and appears here through a Creative Commons license (BY-ND 4.0).

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