High up on the wall, close to the ceiling mounted speaker, from which would excrete God Save the Queen each morning at 9.00 am, was a poison bottle, within which contained the words, got, get, gonna, yeah and nice. These words, explained our year 6 teacher Mr Turner, were poison to the English language and we were forbidden to use them in speech or written work. Mr Turner was a good teacher; he encouraged us to explore the English language, to use our imagination and to express ourselves without using slang, monosyllabic responses or words considered prosaic.

The symbolism of these words contained within a poison bottle and secreted away, out of reach of idle hands and minds and mouths, was very powerful. It is a lesson that has stayed with me all my life. If he were still teaching today, Mr Turner’s students’ would not have any difficulty passing the NAPLAN test or any need to resort to cheating to achieve the desired results.

So I read with much interest recently, the outcome of nine years of researching the written media’s favourite hackneyed phrases. These clichés are known to us all, they are an insidious menace, invading our headspace like mobile phone radiation; and even though you know it’s not doing you any good using them, you just can’t stop.

The number one, most over used cliché, appearing a whopping 21,268 times in the past 15 months alone, across more than 25,000 publications world wide is... "At the end of the day", and a just and deserving winner it is too. This phrase, used incessantly in news forums and in particular by politicians, makes me want to reach for that poison bottle and vomit the words into it, because they rarely have any meaning in the context of the discussion in which they are usually used. We could also say "when all things are said and done", another hackneyed phrase which could mean, when it’s over, a colloquialism best avoided when writing, or speaking for that matter.

What the media and politicians are really saying to us, in using the cliché "at the end of the day", is, that "while we respect your right to express an opinion, it is of no consequence because the outcome is predetermined" usually because of "circumstances beyond our control" - normal transmission will resume shortly! Yes, you have every right to be aggrieved when this phase is used because your argument is being dismissed resolutely; you are to stand in the naughty corner until you know better than to ask such questions or proffer such ideas.

Rounding out the top 7 most used clichés in the media include, "split second", (2,709 usages), "about face", (1,811 usages), "unsung heroes", (1,519 usages), "outpouring of support", (1,331 usages), "last-ditch effort", (1,101 usages) and "concerned residents", (672 usages).

However, none of these have the same adverse effect on Mr Turner, nor have him reaching for the poison bottle to expunge those foetid breathed and odious clichés more so than those currently favoured by our politicians - "end the blame game" and "working families", (22,356,545 usages). That’s one for every person living in Australia and, if I ever hear either of them uttered again, I’ll... I think I should leave the last words to the far more eloquently refined Mr Turner.

"How are you feeling about these clichés now Mr Turner"?

"Betta".

"Better"?

"Betta get me a bucket I’m gonna be sick".

Sometimes, you must use poison to have the desired effect.

Gary Hatwell Executive Chairman