Would you enjoy a novel in which the narrator, who has just been released from prison, declares that he feels as free as a bird? Probably not. What if he then asks his lawyer how she managed to get him out of jail and she goes: "it was as easy as pie"? Cringy, right?
For obvious reasons, clichés are a symptom of lazy writing. After all, a writer is expected to be creative. That's the whole point of his craft, isn't it? To make a story interesting. And prose can't possibly be interesting if it offers you the kind of language that everybody uses. But here's the thing. As an advanced learner you're supposed to do exactly that: use the conventions of the target language, in other words, clichés and idioms.
Only after you've mastered the cliclés can you go on to try and be original (by coining your own expressions) or be funny (by using a little known phrase or by playing on an established idiom). But that, of course, goes well beyond the requirements of the C2 level. So, we don't even need to discuss those skills here.
Back to the point... When you decide to use an idiom you should consider its impact. That demands a certain degree of extra information. Is the expression very old and, therefore, recognizable or very old and just dated? I have always liked the phrase like a knife fight in a phone booth. It explains a specific situation quite efficiently. The problem is that most phone booths have disappeared, which makes the expression sound old-fashioned. You can update it and say like a knife fight in an elevator, but, even if it does the job it's not a traditional phrase and might even sound slightly unnatural. See how complicated things can get?
Let's explore another scenario. Let's imagine that you'd like to convey the idea that something is unexpected. You can say well, that was quite unexpected or even I didn't see that coming, which are perfect expressions. If you say that came out of left field, though, you'll be using an actual idiom, which by definition is not transparent. It sounds casual, conversational and competent. Not bad. Now, if you say that was not on my bingo card you'll probably sound modern. In case you don't know, that expression was first used in 2008, which, by linguistic standards, is not a very long time ago. Will an older speaker understand that? I think so. What if you say that's a plot twist? It's kind of playful. See the difference?
At this point you should know where this is all heading... By knowing all these common idioms you can choose to sound correct, casual, fresh, feisty or even funny. It's really up to you. If you're planning on writing fiction in English, please don't even think of using any of those expressions, but if your aim is to onbtain a C1 or a C2 certificate. That's quite a different story. Wait. That's a whole different ballgame. No... It's a whole different kettle of fish altogether. Well... You know what I mean.
No comments:
Post a Comment