Imagine having a nonsensical argument with someone. Really try to make-believe this scenario, as we have so few opportunities to experience this in daily life.
If the debaters are polite or very tired, the discussion may end with something like:
“It is what it is.”
If you are me, this phrase will ignite your inner flame and like a wounded beast, your irk rises. Eyes? Black. You inhale a pelvis-originating breath in a futile attempt at grounding.
Thought terminating clichés were first defined in 1961, which is a deep bummer illustrating how long these phrases have polluted common speech. Thought terminating clichés are used to strike a truce, dismiss dissenting opinions, or justify out-there conclusions.
Just like most Midwestern environments I grew up in, thought terminating clichés exist to keep temporary peace, albeit usually with a politely simmering, unresolved resentment.
Social media celebrity George Orwell bases the “Newspeak” in his novel 1984 on these types of phrases. Nearly 20 years before, fellow dystopian novel writer Aldous Huxley used thought terminating clichés similarly in 1932’s Brave New World.
Today these clichés starring 20th century literature’s Greatest Dystopian Universes are also deployed across popular culture: social media influencing campaigns, political debates and on planks of wood for sale at Hobby Lobby. You’ll no doubt recognize these simmering phrases, disguised as bland clichés like:
* Because I said so
* It’s not that deep
* Everyone is entitled to their own opinion
* Such is life
* It’s all good
* It is what it is
* It’s too late now
The problem with phrases like these is contained within their name: instead of answering questions, arriving at resolutions, or seeking to understand the other person, we can simply wave the rhetorical white flag, surrendering to actually state a coherent point. Thoughts? Terminated.
In my experience, telling people these phrases are considered “thought terminating clichés” is the important first step. Terminating discourse should be the last resort, deployed during a touch-and-go Tinder date or if the alternative is your chatty hairstyling potentially lopping off half of your shaggy bob. As anti-intellectualism gains influence, we all should attempt to avoid empty language.
