Remember the first time you heard the phrase ‘think outside the box’? Or ‘blue-sky thinking’? Or ‘paradigm shift’?

Once, they were new and exotic. Like words in a foreign language, it was fun to try them out – to use them in emails, to put them in proposals, even to utter them nonchalantly in a meeting.

You could sit back and watch the smiles of recognition or frowns of puzzlement spread round the boardroom table, like ripples in a pond.

Freshly minted language makes us look at the world differently.

Sometimes, we just take an expression and put it in a new context. So athletes have a track record, but companies have an enviable track record. Cars that were self-starters no longer required a crank handle; neither do self-starter candidates, a recruiter’s dream.

Computers were able to handle more than one job at a time, and soon, multi-tasking became something people did too. Assuming, of course, they had the bandwidth.

Passion was once confined to the bedroom. Nowadays, you’re as likely to find it in the boardroom.

Sometimes, we tweak a familiar expression to give it a new twist. So a ‘gimme pig’ is someone who wants it all, and ‘state of the ark’ is hopelessly outdated.

And then, something changes. Coming from nowhere, these words are soon everywhere. They no longer have the stamp of exclusivity, the cachet or originality. Like a joke that everyone’s heard, they’re not funny anymore.

And that’s when to stop using them. But we don’t. And so our readers and listeners simply blank them out.

If you’re ‘passionate about technology’ or want to ‘drive results’ or are ‘committed’ to just about anything, it’s time to get out the red pen and start again.

Be new, be original and be different. And you’ll be noticed.

Related posts:

1. Do foreign terms work in copywriting?