Dysmey Post > Essays > Miscellany > Clichés that Kill Your Brain

Clichés that Kill Your Brain

Ah, Wikipedia, where would we be without your entertaining but futile article on trying to keep people from scooping out their brains with these figurative ice-cream scoops?

Regrettably, the article no longer teaches us the thought-zapping phrases that we ought to avoid. Someone doubting that citations calling any of these things thought-terminating clichés could be found has dropped the list and made a redirect link to some guy's book.

Fortunately, I have taken the trouble to preserve this list for your edification. Words marked thus are mine.

general examples

That's a Good Thing.
Why? Because I said so. (bare assertion fallacy — also "I'm the parent, that's why" appeal to authority).
That's a no-brainer.
That's a given.
That's just common sense. (as opposed to prudence.)
Well, it just depends on the person. (relativism in action.)
To each his own/Each to his own. (as she kissed the cow.)
When you get to be my age … (you find your hair grows sparse and your belly/butt grows fat.)
You don't always get what you want. (But if you try, sometimes you find you get what you need, quoth Mick Jagger.)
What goes around comes around. (like a dose of the clap.)
You win some, you lose some.
Ah well, swings and roundabouts. (a Briticism, short for what you win on the swings you lose on the roundabouts, which still does not make sense.)
The best defense is a good offense.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. (if said sarcastically.)
It works in theory, but not in practice.
There's no silver bullet. (That's good, because there's no such thing as werewolves.)
Stupid is as stupid does.
It makes sense to me, and that's all that matters.
You've gotta live your life.
Easy come, easy go.
Life is unfair.
Such is life/C'est la vie..
It is what it is.
You said that before/There you go again.
I'd like to see you do it better. (And then you get mad when it is done better.)
It's not worth it.
It was his time.
Whatever.
Meh.
Really?
Yawn.
Be a man/mensch and …
Think about it. (hm, not much to think about.)
Just forget it. (if your spouse says that, prepare for trouble later on.)
I'll never mention it again. (no doubt you will take it with you to hell.)
… so, you do the math.
We will have to agree to disagree.
We will have to disagree and commit. (The internal motto of Intel.)
We all have to do things we don't like.
You are not being a team player. (ignoratio elenchi).
There's no I in team. (ignoratio elenchi)
That's just wrong.
That's just not right.
You just don't do that.
It takes all kinds to make a world.
Just do it.
That's what he/she said.
Just look at me now.
Touché!
No, that's fine.
Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.
Because that is our policy.
Don't be silly/stupid/crazy.
Don't be that guy.
There's no smoke without fire. (Used to convince others that a person is guilty based on accusation or hearsay and to discourage further examination of evidence. Evidently, the speaker has never been camping.)
Your momma. (and variations on that)
But… anyways….
I'm just sayin'
C'est la guerre.
Amen!
So it goes.
Don't shoot the messenger. (bare assertion fallacy)
Me thinks thou dost protest too much. (And me thinks thou readest too much Shakespeare.)
The more you argue, the less we believe you.
Science shows ….
Modern research has proven that ….
This too will pass.
But it just feels/felt right.
Think of the children.
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. (slippery slope fallacy)

political examples

You Φ!, where Φ = Racist/Homo/Homophobe/Antisemite/Sexist/etc. (Ad hominem attack).
That's just φ!, where φ = racist/sexist/homophobic/antisemitic/etc. (pissing-in-well or question-begging attack).
That's just a φ argument., where φ = liberal/conservative/libertarian/communitarian/etc. (association fallacy).
Opposition at any cost! (bare assertion fallacy)
Socialism or Barbarism! (false dichotomy)
Anarchist organisations, isn't that an oxymoron? (equivocation)
If you are not with us, you are against us. (false dichotomy)
If you are not against us, you are with us. (false dichotomy)
Love it or leave it. (false dichotomy)
Support our troops. (ignoratio elenchi).
… or the bandits/terrorists win. (false dichotomy).
If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. (false dichotomy)
Better Dead than Red! or its inverse Better Red than Dead!
That's a conspiracy theory.
Freedom is not free. (Bare assertion fallacy)
The tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of patriots. (ditto)
Live free or die.
Fascist arguments need no comments. (weasel words)
If we gave it to you, we'd have to give it to everyone.
Freedom is non-negotiable.
Political correctness" or "PC
It's political correctness gone mad!
It's for the good of the public.
Especially in this economy.
Think of the children! (It fits here, too.)

religious examples

All quotes come from the New International Version on the grounds that it is time we relegate the King James Bible to classes in early modern British Literature, where it belongs.

God has a plan and a purpose. (Yes, but you don't know what it is, do you?)
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. (Um, you forgot "May the name of the LORD be praised", you fool! Oh, yeah, Job 1:21)
Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve! (when opposing homosexual marriage)
God works in mysterious ways. (God is so mysterious, I guess, because you're an ignorant berk.)
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5, falsely used as an excuse for being stupid.)
Forgive and forget. (Works with God and true followers of Jesus, but what about the rest of us?)
That's not biblical. (I hope you brought your Bible along to prove it, fool.)
Jesus loves you. (Well, duh!)(ignoratio elenchi)
Do not listen to him! He is a φ!, where φ = infidel/unbeliever/heretic/goy/kafir. (guilt by association fallacy)
That line of thought sounds like it's from a φ!, where φ = sect/cult/heresy/mancave. (guilt by association fallacy)
The King James Bible is real and not fiction! (mistaking its reality with the illegibility of its contents.)