First the cliche, now the Dimwitticism

The Cliche Index has now morphed into Dimwitticism's, which we're helping Vocabula to track each month.

According to the site's editor and publisher, Robert Hartwell Fiske,

"Whereas a witticism is a clever remark or phrase — indeed, the height of expression — a "dimwitticism" is the converse; it is a commonplace remark or phrase. Dimwitticisms are worn-out words and phrases; they are expressions that dull our reason and dim our insight, formulas that we rely on when we are too lazy to express what we think or even to discover how we feel. The more we use them, the more we conform — in thought and feeling — to everyone else who uses them."

Bookmark the page and check regularly if these words are creeping into your writing!