I just finished reading a few books (example and example) that were full of trite expressions and poor grammar. The writing was so bad, it distracted me from the story. As writers, we should not use trite expressions. There are some words in the list below, that almost always elicit a paired word. For instance, if you read the word avid, the next word that comes to mind is reader.

Let’s test this theory here. Below is a list of 10 pairs or expressions where I just list the first word. See if you come up with the second by yourself:

1. Avid
2. Dire
3. Heated
4. Reinvent
5. Pregnant
6. Stark
7. Humble
8. Trials
9. Bated
10. Moot

— Scroll down for the answers —

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the answers, and behind each expression I have listed the number of results a Google search returned when I searched for the respective pair in double quotes:

1. Avid reader – 3,490,00
2. Dire consequences – 723,000
3. Heated debate – 2,060,000
4. Reinvent the wheel – 674,00
5. Pregnant pause – 396,000
6. Stark contrast – 5,700,000
7. Humble abode – 540,000
8. Trials and tribulations – 5,730,000
9. Bated breath – 644,000
10. Moot point – 749,000

The simple answer is: As writers we should not use such two-word expressions. As speakers, we should avoid them “like the plague” <—