Cliche Corner
By
Lori Robertson
Lori Robertson (robertson.lori@gmail.com), a former AJR managing editor, is a senior contributing writer for the magazine.
In the future, Oldsmobiles will be rusting away in junkyards across
America. (General Motors is phasing out the brand.) But their spirits
will live on, as references to the late '80s "Not your father's
Oldsmobile" advertisements will surely never die.
It may have become increasingly difficult for GM to sell more
Oldsmobiles, but getting journalists to turn an ad slogan into a clichů
was a cinch.
In the first eight months of this year, there were 377 uses of the
no-longer-hip phrase, according to Lexis-Nexis, including:
"Longtime 'Apes' fan [sic] should probably be
warned that this is not your father's 'Planet of the Apes' – though that
really won't surprise anyone familiar with the work of oddball filmmaker
Burton."
Salt Lake City's Deseret News
"This is not your father's Mickey Mouse;
all four of those live-action movies depend on
elaborate digital animation...."
Dallas Morning News
"It's not your father's middle school any
longer now that it has Gigaspeed cables in the
walls and bandwidth with 32-inch monitors."
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
If it's not your father's, then whose is it?
"This is not your father's NBA Draft. It's your
little brother's, and he's going to be a lottery pick."
Baton Rouge, Louisiana's Advocate
Sometimes, it's really not not your father's, it's not your mother's
(134 references):
"It's not your mother's Avon."
Chattanooga Times/Chattanooga Free Press
"They're not your mother's package deal."
Hackensack, New Jersey's Record
"It's not your mother's rice pudding."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Just in case you thought not your mother's or your father's meant that
it was grandma's or your
sister's, we'll clear up the confusion:
"This is not your mother's or
your grandma's senior center."
Pennsylvania's Tri-State Sports & News Service
"This is not your father's Beach Boys,
nor is it your older brother's or sister's."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
For a comparison to something hopelessly outdated, it's time to use
grandmother (37 references) or grandma (21), or the more manly
grandfather (41) or grandpa (6):
"A ginger tapioca pudding in a paper-thin crackly crust is not your
grandmother's comfort food."
Boston Globe
"Brave Combo is not your Grandma's polka band."
Allentown's Morning Call
"No, this is not your grandfather's bocce."
San Francisco Chronicle
"This is not your grandpa's frozen
Salisbury steak dinner."
Omaha World-Herald
If it's not your grandfather's or your father's, then why not just use
"not your father's," huh?
"It's not your grandfather's or
even your father's Army boot camp."
Nashville's Tennessean
"This is not your grandfather's sports car
or your father's."
Hackensack, New Jersey's Record
You know a clichů has seen better days when it's stretched beyond its
actual meaning:
"This is not your father's father's Rose Bowl –
it's the great-great Granddaddy."
Los Angeles Times
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