September 8, 2009Why “Saintly Patience” is better than “Patience of a Saint”
I mentioned in an email to a client that one of his receptionists has the “Patience of a Saint.” It didn’t sit quite right with me, because I find that any use of cliche makes us go a bit unconscious. We think we know what they mean and don’t think about the implications.
When you change a cliche even slightly, it gets the attention and gets us to actually hear what is being said in ways we are more likely to miss when spoken in its usual form. That’s why
- Saintly patience
is more powerful than the patience of a saint.
When you find yourself giving voice to cliches, alter them just a bit. It give them fresh, new meaning.
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To me there is a HUGE difference in the meaning of these two phrases.
Patience of a Saint – makes me feel the person is just checking out – and doesn’t care.
Saintly Patience – is somehow an active, caring feeling.
Comment by Phyllis — September 9, 2009 @ 10:03 am