The Mother of All Perfect Storms

This morning, while shaving and listening to the local all-news radio station, I was informed by the news anchor that increased Internet usage worldwide is leading to a "perfect storm" of energy failure.

Huh?

Using a cliche is one thing (usually, the sign of a lazy writer); using it incorrectly only increases the irritation factor. According to Wikipedia, a perfect storm is the "simultaneous occurrence of weather events which, taken individually, would be far less powerful than the storm resulting of their chance combination."

But that's what happens with cliches. People become so accustomed to using them that they get sloppy. So stay alert to those hackneyed words and phrases, and get rid of them from your writing. Business correspondence, in particular, is a haven for the hackneyed.
My nominations for retirement include:

• The Mother of all...
• At the end of the day...
• Think outside the box...
• The bottom line is...
• I can get behind that...

The remedy? Simply look for other ways to express that thought or idea. Demonstrate some creativity. Make your writing memorable by making it unique. When your writing stands out, you do, too. Just make sure it's standing out for all the right reasons.

And by the way, I think Sebastian Junger's 1997's book, "The Perfect Storm," is a terrific read.