Badurina, Lada, Nada Ivaneti, Boris Pritchard, Diana Stolac, ur. (1999). Teorija i mogunosti primjene pragmalingvistike.

Zagreb Rijeka: Hrvatsko drutvo za primijenjenu lingvistiku, 721-734.

UDK 802.2 (=863) Izvorni znanstveni Clanak

Nada Sabec University of Maribor, Slovenia

CLICHES AND CATCH PHRASES AS USED BY SLOVENE SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH

Clich's and catch phrases are usually considered hackneyed, trite expressions that have outlived their usefulness as conveyors of fresh information. They are nevertheless widely used as gap fillers, especially in unrehearsed conversation, and have as such a legitimate communicative value. Their stereotypical character and formulaic structure, which are highly linguistically and culturally specific, represent considerable intercultural challenge for non-native speakers. My paper explores the perception of common elich's and catch phrases by Slovene speakers of English. I am particularly interested in their ability to recognize certain elich's, the kind of elich's they are familiar with and which they use most frequently, as well as the context in which these elich's are used. In addition, I examine their use of elich's for possible cross-cultural and cross-linguistic Slovene-English influences and evaluate the perceived usefulness of elich's and catch phrases in their English.

1. Introduction
Clich's are usually considered hackneyed, trite expressions that have outlived their usefulness as conveyors of fresh information. They are nevertheless widely used as gap fillers, especially in unrehearsed conversation, and have as such a legitimate communicative value. While some scholars complain about their "stylistic poverty" and "overuse" (Mackin 1978:165), others such as Howard believe that "many eliches say what they say in a very economical way and express ideas that cannot be expressed otherwise without intolerable circumlocution and periphrasis." (Howard 1984:98). The stereotypical character and formulaic structure of elich's, which are highly linguistically and culturally specific, represent a considerable intercultural challenge for non-native speakers. An additional challenge is the ability to distinguish between elich's and other similar forms such as catch phrases, slogans, and idioms in general, where the line between individual types is often very hard to define and requires a high degree of familiarity with the underlying culture.

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2. Research Objective and Methodology In my artiele I explore the perception of common elich's by Slovene speakers of English. I am particularly interested in their ability to recognize certain clich's, the kind of elich's they are familiar with and which they use most frequently, as well as the context in which these elich's are used. In addition, I examine their use of elich's for possible cross-cultural and cross-linguistic Slovene-English influences and evaluate the perceived usefulness of clich's in their English. The findings are based on the analysis of questionnaire responses provided by my pI, 3rd , and 41h year English students (52 altogether) at the University of Maribor, Slovenia. 3. Analysis and Discussion The first part of the questionnaire consisted of open-ended questions asking the respondents to define elich's, state how often, in which contexts and why they use them, how they perceive them in terms of their usefulness and the like. Typical definitions of elich's ranged from those that focused on their structure (e.g. It is a kind of a set phrase.) to definitions based on their meaning and function (e.g. A word without any particular meaning and people use it because it is fashionable and sounds great). The majority of students stated that they use elich's often and perceive them as useful because of their power to enrich their vocabulary and to make their English more colorful, interesting, fluent and more native-like. At the same time they warn against their overuse, which may result in dull, unimaginative and insincere expression. They generally believe that different languages have the same or at least similar elich's, a belief that was proven wrong by their subsequent performance in answering the questions. Only a few pointed out the importance of cultural and linguistic differences which result in different elich's as well. The request for five elich's that first came to mind turned out to be quite difficult. Some of their listed elich's included: so to speak; as a matter of fact; if you know what I mean; anyway; pure luck; to pull somebody's leg; that's life; cool as a cucumber; cold truth; as bright as the sun; in my

mind's eye; to call it a day; as dark as night; as white as snow; very good indeed; thank you very much; I love you; as good as bread; I don't know; it's high time; you make my day; in other words; for example; I was wondering if; as indicated; the point is; one moment, please; don't hate me for this; hand of justice; seeing is believing; at the right time on the right place; how do you do; a heart-breaking movie; in my opinion; quite often; that's the way I think; from my point of view; considering all the changes; the least important; so to say; on the contrary; nevertheless; for conversation's sake; killing time; for everyone's happiness; first of all; on the one hand, on the other hand; to sum up; as a result; you never know; last, but not least; as it looks like; considering the consequence; speaking of the fact; good enough; and so on; in my view; by and by; for instance; sort or; in the end; finally; take it or leave it; fine, thank you; what a wonderful morning; generally speaking; point of view; not to mention; on average; sort of speaking; to rely on; to get back to; as we see; as I speak; to comment on; no shred of doubt; as you can see.

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The list shows, not surprisingly, that the respondents have at times difficulties distinguishing between elich's and other more or less fixed expressions as well as with producing their accurate forms in all cases. The second part of the questionnaire consisted of multiple choice questions asking about the same things as the first part, but while the first part primarily offered the students an opportunity to write freely, the second one gave me a chance to compare their responses systematically as well as to compare the consistency of their responses in the two parts. The results showed that most students use elich's "often", followed by "occasionally", and only few answered with "rarely" or "almost never". They use elich's mostly in spoken discourse (54%) and less in written discourse. The questions that followed allowed for more than one answer and showed that the students use elich's mostly as gap fillers. The second most frequent answer elaims that they use them to express something more accurately (38 %), which is in sharp contrast with the next most frequent answer - to avoid saying something in a more precise manner (31 %). Similar contradictions occur in their responses to the questions with regard to their perception of elich's. Most perceive them as routine and conventional, stereotypical, as an effective rhetorical device, shallow, empty of meaning, but some (though not many) also as original and elear. The responses as to spoken vs. written discourse in which elich's are generally used, produced the exact opposite results to the responses to the question about their own use. They believe that elich's are used most frequently in politics (which comes as no surprise and pretty much reflects reality), in small talk, and as conversations openers. That is followed by advertising, TV, movies and printed media. Part three of the questionnaire called for practical recognition of elich's. The respondents were given a selection of idioms, elich's, vogue words and the like and asked to identify the elich's, paraphrase them and translate them into Slovene. Among the ones that were selected most often were: let's call it a day; you never know; there's

plenty more fish in the sea; take it or leave it; to give the green light to; to put two and two together; to take one step at a time; tomorrow is another day and as a matter of fact. Among the most salient wrong responses was to bite the bullet, which they misinterpreted either as the equivalent of the Slovene ustre/iti kozla (i.e. to blunder) or as to attack somebody in self-defense. Other interesting mistakes ineluded to put something on the line, which was believed to mean different things from emphasizing something: to put somebody on the waiting list; to take into account and even confused with the term deadline. A wild-goose chase was similarly misinterpreted as chasing somebody as a criminal. Surprisingly few decided on the handwriting on the wall; the university of hard knocks and to take somebody down a peg or two. Some elaimed ignorance of certain words (e.g. What is a clam?), even though I made sure that I did not use any that had not
been previously dealt with. The next task asked for the distinction between useful idiomatic expressions and empty elich's. While all of the listed combinations were labeled as empty elich's by at least some respondents, the most frequent ones were: so to speak; first and foremost; by

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way of introduction; for ever and ever; that's life; in the course of time. The last one on the list was as cool as a cucumber, followed by to draw the short straw; to pull somebody's leg, when hell freezes over and to burn midnight oil, in all of which they apparently recognized some substantial semantic dimension and considered them as useful idioms. The confusion and inconsistency in the respondents' answers is understandable as the distinction between non-idiomatic and idiomatic elich's is all but simple and elear-cut. A continuum of expressions ranging from basically transparent elich's void of any meaning to the highly semantically opaque idioms and all the intermediate forms in between makes it hard to draw a line between individual items to such an extent that Brook elaims how the distinction is in fact often subjective and how "whether we call a phrase an idiom or a elich' generally depends on whether we like it or not." (Brook 1982:14). While this might be exaggerating a bit, it is true that stylistic, and functional merits of given expressions should always be considered in judging whether or not they fall into the category of elich's. The task that asked for the distinction between elich's, catch phrases, slogans, proverbs, and quotations was even more demanding. The respondents did impressively well with identifying proverbs, but had a hard time distinguishing between catch phrases and slogans for example. Since these are an integral part of a particular culture, we can only recognize them if we are either part of that culture or well acquainted with it. In view of the expressions that they recognized most often it would seem that the main source of their cultural knowledge has to be TV and media (e.g. What's up, dOE?; to boldly go where noone has gone before; You Tarzan, me Jane; Here's looking at you, kidO but not Elementary, dear Watson, which seems to have lost some of its appeal in the case of the younger generations proving how short-lived some catch phrases are). The next task asked for the correction of erroneous elich's and idioms. Fewer than expected were corrected, especially since the students were told that all contained some mistake. All respondents corrected the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth (in which we again notice the influence of TV and movies), the majority corrected the proverb a friend in need is a friend indeed, and many the expressions take it or leave it (used in the previous task), and to take the bull by the horns (instead of the cow, where the right answer could have been arrived at logically). It is interesting that not even one corrected to add insult to wound into the correct add insult to injury. All who tried opted for the Slovene-influenced add salt to the wound (Le. dodati/nasuti soli v rano). An interesting attempt was blessing in heaven instead of blessing in disguise (the respondents apparently drawing on the association between heaven and blessing). Nobody corrected graffiti on the wall despite the previous occurrence of the handwriting on the wall.
The respondents were then given ten sentences and asked to replace the underlined text by elich's. This turned out to be a very hard nut to crack (!), even after they were given the same task for the second time with a hint of a proper elich'. There was, however, some progress made in the second attempt. Again, the students were most successful in producing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth; in this day and age/at this point in time and to be as cool as a cucumber. In their second attempt

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the improvement was seen mainly in the use of: it's no big deal; to cut a long story short and to see pink elephants. Some suggested clich's were obviously arrived at under the influence of Slovene and included: he looked through their fingers (pogledati skozi prste), gone to the mole's land (iti v krtovo deuelo), cold as blood (hladnokrven). There were also some interference's from other idioms and clich's (e.g. to stay blind as a bat instead of to turn a blind eye to) as well as some new creations (e.g. no pain, no game; they were particularly inventive with kick the bucket, where they offered several variations such as: he filled his bucket; he hit the bucket; he became a bucket; he ended up in the bucket; he was

carried away in a bucket; he became a bucket of ash; he is in the bucket now.)

The last task asked for a translation of fifteen Slovene clich's and idioms and was designed with the purpose of providing evidence of either intercultural interference or lack of it. The evidence of Slovene influence on English was overwhelming as illustrated by the following example: sveta dolinost: almost consistently translated as holy, sometimes holly duty. Other options included holly matter; saint duty; it's a world's duty; divine duty and even as creative as this is your duty towards God, king and the whole nation. There were only two cases of the correct sacred duty. Apparently the associations were very difficult to make, certain words were difficult to retrieve from memory and the transfer from Slovene was extremely powerful, which prevented the formation of the right lexical combinations. Other examples of the same phenomenon included: zdrav razum: translated as a clear/healthy mind; sane reason and rational mind instead of common sense. borba za vsakdanji kruh: translated as to fight for everydayCs) bread/day's bread/our daily bread (possible association with give us our daily bread). There was only one respondent who wrote for bread and butter. Interesting options were also dog and dog world (possible association with dog eat dog world) and from hand to mouth (a word-by word translation from the Slovene idiom iz rok v usta). kraj, Bogu za hrbtom: correct translation in relatively few cases (in the middle of nowhere; an out-of-the way place; God forsaken place). Also: the place at the end of the world, and more amusingly: a place behind God's back; a place out of God's sight; God's forgotten place; place God knows where and a forgotten planet. kuhati mulo: this one turned out to be very problematic and the majority simply didn't offer an answer. Only some suggested to be stubborn as a mule and to soak, perhaps meaning to sulk. prepirati se za prazen nic: mostly paraphrased as to argue over nothing, while some also resorted to their literary knowledge and offered much ado about nothing. To beat around the bush was also suggested, obviously a result of misinterpretation. narediti iz muhe slona: this was largely translated under the influence of Slovene as to make an elephant out of a fly/mouse. There was a strange case of to make a cake from nothing, but also the correct answer to make a mountain out of a molehill (somewhat less correct was to make an elephant out of a mole) and as to blow something out of

proportion; to make a big deal of something.

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videti bele miSi: this produced a large number of to see white mice, but also the correct answers to see pink elephants with additional pink elephants flying/dancing and a combination of the two to see white elephants. Also: to see elephants falling down. po toCi zvoniti je prepozno: this produced a few correct answers to cry over spilt milk (also what is done is done), but also to toll the bell after the hail; to ring after fire is too late; it's too late to ring the bell after the storm. biti v devetih nebesih: this was among the easier ones (it had been used in previous exercises, but this did not work in some other cases). They mostly wrote to be on cloud nine, also in seventh heaven, but also to be in the ninth clouds and in the third heaven and, somewhat surprisingly, to be in. They were somewhat more successful with toCiti krokodilje solze, which was translated as to cry like a baby; to cry crocodile tears; to cry like rain; to dry your eyes out, even though some suggested drop crocodile's tears and even wipe rather than weep crocodile tears.
Most correct responses were given for:

nauCiti se na pamet: to learn by heart

cas beii: time flies, even though here there were also some typically Slovene
influenced ones as well: time runs fast /goes by and time is running. A more creative
touch is found in time turns like a rollercoaster.
taka je iivljenje: that's life; such is life. There were just a few isolated cases of it's like
that and it's a living(Slovene influence). imeti dve levi roki: to have two/both left hands, but also to be left-handed with a completely unrelated meaning, and to have two lefts and to be a lame duck.
Even though this analysis is far from being exhaustive, as a more thorough discussion of each response would exceed the scope of this artiele, it is obvious that the respondents' mother tongue plays an important role in their recognition and production of elich's. Another thing that is also obvious, apart from Slovene transfer and cross-cultural influence, both in translation and in other tasks is the lack of precision and accuracy in the students' approach to elich's. Frequently they know an idiom or a elich', but in a very vague, approximate form, they have some notion of it and when pressed to produce it in its proper and complete form they have a difficult time choosing the right prepositions, artieles, word order and the like. Hence a great deal of vacillation in their choice of words, and spelling: hol(l)y; time flies vs. the time

flies; to cry like (a) rain; to take one step at (a) time; be in (the)seventh heaven; at the spot instead of on the spot etc. Frequent are also literal translations.
4. Conclusion This questionnaire used to measure the non-native speaker'S familiarity with English elich's and idioms and consequently their level of English cultural knowledge has shown that elich's, while generally perceived as useful, are not sufficiently part of non-native speakers' vocabulary. Clich's and other fixed expressions make for an important part of the English language and they are sometimes preferable to novel

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and more creative utterances. Indeed, there are some areas in which elich's are unavoidable and "where consciously thought-out language is unusuat if not inappropriate, such as funerals, disasters, the writing of references and testimonies or letters of protest" (Redfern 1989:20). Clich's are no doubt an important part of socio cultural competence and an indication that the speakers who use them appropriately are in-members of a given speech community bonded by solidarity and familiarity. A greater effort should therefore be made to incorporate the teaching of elich's and idioms into our curricula, as the students, despite the difficulties, realize the contribution of elich's to their ability to use English appropriately and efficiently. They appreciate the way elich's make their English more fluent and more native-like and are certainly motivated to learn them. The question for the teachers is what is the best method to teach them. Since elich's are both linguistically and culturally specific it would seem that any increase of linguistic competence and particularly sociolinguistic and pragmatic competence coupled with an increase of cultural awareness can only help. Students should be immersed into the English language culture to the highest possible degree and this should make it easier for them to understand the values and assumptions that underlie language use and to master the sometimes unfamiliar ways of expression. In light of the differences between elich's across different languages and the apparent interference from Ll, however, we should also draw on these differences, point out the contrasts between different linguistic and cultural systems, and make any peculiarities very explicit thus preventing the most common errors and misunderstandings. Only in such a way will non-native speakers be able to develop their competence to their full potential.

LITERATURE
Brook, C. L. 1981. Words in Everyday Life. London: Macmillian.
Crystat D. 1995. Lexical Dimensions. In: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English
Language. CUP: 170-188.
Howard, P. 1984. "Clichl/'. In: The State of the Language. London: Hamish Hamilton:
87-99. Mackin, R. 1978. "On collocations: words shall be known by the company they keep". In: P. Strevens (ed.) In Honour of A.S. Hornby. OUP: 149-165.

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APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE PART I

1. How would you define elich's? 2. How often do you use them? 3. When/in which contexts do you use them most often? 4. Why do you use them? 5. In what types of discourse are elich's most frequently used? 6. How do you perceive them in terms of their usefulness? 7. Do you think that different languages have the same kind of elich's? Compare English and Slovene. S. Please enumerate at least 5 elich's that first come to your mind.
PART II

Please cirele the option that best describes your use of elich's. 1. I use elich's: a. occasionally b. often c. very often d. rarely e. almost never f. never 2. I use elich's mostly in: a. spoken discourse b. written discourse 3. I use elich's: a. to express something more accurately b. as gap fillers c. to avoid saying something in a more precise manner d. to be imaginative and creative e. as conveyors of fresh and new information 4. I perceive elich's as: a. opaque b. polite c. routine and conventional d. original

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e. formal f. colloquial g. effective rhetorical device h. shallow i. wordy j. unnecessary k. trite and trivial 1. elear m. empty of meaning n. stereotypical 5. Clich's are mostly used in: a. spoken discourse b. written discourse 6. Clich's are mostly used: a. in printed media b. in movies c. on TV d. in advertising e. in fiction f. in politics g. in conversations with friends h. in conversations with strangers i. in small talk j. as conversation openers k. in specialized literature on various scientific topics
PART III

1. Identify the elich's, paraphrase them, and translate them into Slovene. Mark the ones that you use most frequently with an asterisk (*). a. from time immemorial b. let's call it a day c. there's plenty more fish in the sea d. you never know e. every Tom, Dick and Harry f. take it or leave it g. to give the green light to h. to put 2 and 2 together

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i. to put 3 and 3 together to make 5

j. at the end of the night k. to shoot the bullet 1. at this moment in time m. in this day and age n. to take someone down a peg or two o. a wild-goose chase p. the handwriting is on the wall q. to take one step at a time r. tomorrow is another day s. as a matter of fact t. Monicagate u. the university of hard knocks v. to put something on the table w. to put something on the line
Z.to snatch the victory from the jaws of defeat
2. Which of the following do you consider useful idiomatic expressions and which clich's empty of meaning? a. as cool as a cucumber b. in a nutshell c. first and foremost d. all good things must come to an end e. that's life f. when hell freezes over g. leave nothing to chance h. as happy as a clam i. don't get ahead of yourself j. time flies k. to burn the midnight oil 1. there's no time like the present m. you can't please everybody n. so to speak p. in the course of time q. to draw the short straw r. on the spur of the moment s. by way of introduction

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t. for ever and ever u. to pull someone's leg v. in light of 3. What is the difference between clich's, catch-phrases, slogans, proverbs, and quotations?
Please identify them by marking them with C, CP, 5, P, and Q.
a. You can't be all things to all people.
b. Life is what you make it.
c. Let sleeping dogs lie.
d. It's not the heat, it's the humidity.
e. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
f. I've been to hell and back again. g. It is a hard life. h. Me Tarzan, you Jane. i. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. j. to be or not to be k. Don't cross the bridge till you come to it. 1. this, that, and the other. m. Guiness is good for you n. Spell it out loud and clear. o. at the drop of a hat p. Ask not what your country ca,n do for you, but what you can do for your country. q. to beat about the bush r. It takes all sorts. s. What's up, doc? t. You cannot be serious! u. Time will tell. v. Read my lips. w. in no uncertain terms x. Don't leave home without it. y. Elementary, my dear Watson. z. To boldly go where noone has gone before. aa. to give the green light to bb. in a manner of speaking cc. A watched pot never boils. dd. Here's looking at you, kid.

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ee. ff. gg. hh. ii. jj. kk. 11. mm. nn.
00.

pp.

Don't put cart before the horse.

A man has got to do what a man has got to do
Know what I mean?
a last-ditch attempt
to be on eloud nine.
I kid you not.
to heat the nail on the head
Am I right or am I right?
It's fingerlickin' good.
Put a tiger in your tank
Make love, not war.
This town isn't big enough for both of us.

1. Please identify any errors in the following elich's and correct them. d. at the end of the night e. hook, line, and sink f. sinker, hook, and line g. the calm before the rain h. to take the cow by the horns i. a blessing in guise j. a memory like a strainer k. the burden of evidence 1. the graffiti is on the wall m. a bone of contentment n. a friend indeed is a friend in need o. leave it or take it p. better fate than death q. under keyhole and lock r. holy duty s. lock, barrel, and stock t. sealed, signed, and delivered u. lay something on the bottom line v. get down to the gritty nitty w. to add insult to wound x. to leave no rock unturned y. to boldly split infinitives where noone has split before z. don't hatch your chickens before they count

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aa. nothing pained, nothing gained

bb. no venture, no gain
cc. the truth, nothing but the truth, and the whole truth 1. Please replace the underlined by elich's. e. Nowadays we all have to tighten our belts. f. She didn't panic at all. On the contrary, she remained extremely calm. g. The investigators saw the signs of corruption, but chose to ignore them. h. Poor old John. After a long illness, he's passed away. i. When her boss called her incompetent, Anne could take no more and resigned immediately. j. The witness was instructed to tell the absolute truth. k. Finally, but still important, the matter of moving offices has to be discussed 1. He was so drunk on Saturday that he was seeing things. m. I want to be brief, so I'll give you just the highlights. n. When she said that his problems were all to do with his mother she was absolutely right. o. It was not very important. 6. Please use elich's to translate the following Slovene items/phrases/sentences into English.
possible.
a. sveta dolznost b. tociti krokodilje solze c. zdrav razum d. borba za vsakdanji kruh e. kuhati mulo f. kraj, Bogu za hrbtom g. prepirati se za prazen nit h. napraviti iz muhe slona i. videti bele misi j. imeti dve levi roki k. Po toCi zvoniti je prepozno. 1. nauCiti se nekaj na pamet m. biti v devetih nebesih n. Cas bezi. o. Tako je zivljenje. 1. Please replace the underlined by elich's. e. Nowadays we all have to tighten our belts. (day)

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f. She didn't panic at all. On the contrary, she remained extremely calm. (cool) g. The investigators saw the signs of corruption, but chose to ignore them. (blind) h. Poor old John. After a long illness, he's passed away. (bucket) i. When her boss called her incompetent, Anne could take no more and resigned immediately. (spot) j. The witness was instructed to tell the absolute truth. (whole) k. Finally, but still important, the matter of moving offices has to be discussed (least) 1. He was so drunk on Saturday that he was seeing things. (elephants) m. I want to be brief, so I'll give you just the highlights. (story) n. When she said that his problems were all to do with his mother she was absolutely right. (nail) o. It was not very important. (deal)

Saietak

KLISEJI I KRILATICE U SLOVENSKIH GOVORNIKA ENGLESKOG JEZIKA

KliSeji i krilatice se obicno smatraju otrcanim i banalnim izrazima koji viSe nisu korisni kao sredstvo svjesne i nove informacije. Medutim oni se mnogo upotrebljavaju kao podStapalice, pogotovo u spontanom razgovoru i stoga posjeduju legitimnu komunikacijsku vrijednost. Njihov stereotipni oblik i formulaicka struktura koji su jako vezani za odredeni jezik i kulturu naravno da predstavljaju prilicni interkulturni izazov za neizvornog govornika. U referatu se ispituje kako slovenski govornici engleskog percepiraju uobicajene kliSeje i krilatice. Autorica se naroCito zanima kako slovenski govornici prepoznaju odredene kliseje, tj. vrstu kliSeja koji im nisu strani i koje najcesce koriste kao i kontekst u kojem se ovi kliseji najvise javljaju. Nadalje, autorica proucava kako se govornici koriste tim klisejima da bi se odredio moguCi slovensko-engleski medkulturni i medujezicni utjecaj. Autorica isto tako pokusava odrediti korisnost/ efektivnost kliSeja i krilatica u govoru slovenskih ispitanika.

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