Clichés – A phrase that literally means something that has been overused and oozes unoriginality. However, the word is not just limited to the boundaries of a phrase and can also foster aspects of literature such as scenarios, genres, characters, and plots.
Though with time, clichés have acquired a negative tint and are associated with lazy writing, some clichés have aged very well.
The clichés that are housed under the umbrella of classic literature are not put under scrutiny for their unoriginal entrails. While some find their roots in the works of Shakespeare, some have Dickensian shade all over them. Other clichés are believed to have originated from folklore and fables.
In this article, we talk about five such classic literary clichés and their origin in the English language.
Once Upon A Time…
As kids, every story, every tale, used to start with this cliché. The origins of ‘Once upon a time’ is as old as the sense of time this cliché manages to create in the brain. Due to this, its roots do not have a concrete commencement. The oldest usage of the phrase can be found in the play ‘The Old Wives Tale’ by George Peel in 1595.
Pot Calling The Kettle Black
At the time when this phrase was catapulted to popularity, people had utensils made of cast iron which got covered with black soot over time. The earliest usage of the cliché can be traced to an English translation of a Spanish novel, Don Quixote. The author of the novel was Miguel de Cervantes, and it was translated in 1620 by Thomas Shelton.
Little Did They Know
A cliché that flows from the pens of all suspense writers varying in generations, ‘Little Did They Know’ was first popularised by writer George Dobbs who cited this phrase from the 1931 issue of the magazine, The Rotarian. Before this, little did anybody know about this cliché. The original line, where this cliché was picked from, read, “Little did he know that he was then on the verge of discovering a hidden treasure.
Forever And A Day
An exaggeration-cum-cliché, Forever And A Day, got popularised through a William Shakespeare play called The Taming Of The Shrew in 16th CE. Though popularized by Shakespeare, the original utterer of this phrase is believed to be Thomas Paynell. Thomas translated De Morbo Gallico by Ulrich von Hutten, when this phrase came up in text form for the first time.
Happily, Ever After
Innumerable fairy tales culminated with this particular phrase, but the originator of this cliché was a literary piece created by Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio in 14th CE. “Ever after” in the context used to mean heaven, making the phrase say enjoying eternal bliss. “So they lived very lovingly, and happily, ever after,” read the line written in the translation of Boccaccio’s work, The Decameron.
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