Cliché: The word “cliché” comes from the French verb “clicher,” which means to stereotype or to click. In the context of printing, “clicher” referred to the process of making a stereotype, a printing plate cast from a mold of movable type. The term is believed to be onomatopoeic, mimicking the sound of the printing plate striking molten metal. The repetitive clicking sound associated with this process led to the term “cliché.” In the printing industry, a “cliché” was a ready-made plate used to reproduce text or images. Because these plates were reused frequently, the term came to denote anything that was repeated so often it lost originality. By the mid-19th century, “cliché” had moved beyond the printing industry to describe any phrase, idea, or element that was overused and lacked freshness or originality. iA Writer’s Syntax Highlight helps detect clichés. If used consciously, clichés can be turned into a rhetorical device. Rhetoric devices become clichés when used without thought.