Writing Tip - Think Twice About Using Idioms

When we write, the language we use reflects the things that have shaped us as a writer. It draws on the world around us, the places and situations in which we grew up, our native language, and how we're used to hearing it used - and all these things impact on our stories.

But...that's...not a bad thing, right? It helps us connect to our readers, lets us write more efficiently, and gives more depth to our characters, doesn't it? The answer to that is both 'yes'...and 'no,' because language and how we use it are full of choices - and not every choice is the right one for every situation.

Take idioms, since they're the reason for this post. They're a phrase whose meaning has become established through usage...and whose meaning can be lost when that usage wanes. They also don't carry over well between different cultures, even if those cultures have the same language background - and that's because the situations they arise from are often culturally unique.

As writers, we often use them as a way of getting our meaning across to readers in a way that uses the least words possible. They can also be used as a form of shorthand to set a certain tone or mood, or bring an instant image to the reader's mind.

Some say using idioms is lazy - and it can be if that's all a writer relies on to convey meaning. Others, however, say it's a legitimate technique if used sparingly, since overuse can reduce the impact of the words and phrases you choose - but that's a topic for another day.

Needless to say, the spoken and written word is littered with them, and their meanings can live on long after their origin is forgotten, simply because the meaning has become established by continued usage, and the events that spawned it have faded into the past.

I caught myself, the other day, about to say a character was grinning 'like a Cheshire cat.'

Now, this would have been fine, if the world I was writing in had any kind of Earth connection,
where the saying has become established, but it didn't. It would probably have even worked if I'd been writing science fiction with a human-based character cast, but I wasn't.

I was writing fantasy...in a world that was not Earth, and where neither Earth, nor Alice in Wonderland had ever existed - which meant Cheshire cats, and their infamous grins, had never existed, either. This means the saying never came into being as short-hand for a broad grin in the place the story was set.

I was also writing from a limited third-person point of view, which means most of what is seen in the story is limited to what one particular character can notice...which meant the character, who had never heard of a Cheshire cat, wouldn't have used that saying when they thought about how the other character was grinning.

And why was this important?

Simply because some readers are sensitive to this kind of usage - and the appearance of a Cheshire cat in a description from the perspective of a character who wouldn't know of one, in a world where it didn't exist, would pull them out of the story.

The same can be applied if you're writing from the perspective of an alien who was born and raised on a world where the circumstances leading to an idiom never happened - or to a mythical creature who, after a hundred years away, has only just stepped from their Underhill home into modern society and is unaware of the more modern sayings.

For example, they might be aware of the idiom 'a face like a slapped behind,' but have never heard of 'a face like a melted Sulo bin,' since Sulo bins did not exist a hundred years ago.

Now, you might be thinking: 'When can I use idioms?'

Firstly, use them sparingly, is a good rule of thumb, just like any other literary technique, since the impact of using them is reduced by over-use.

Secondly, use them when it's appropriate to the character's world or background and similar circumstances might have arisen. For instance, they might use 'on the can' to say someone was using the toilet, if toilets had developed in the same way they did on Earth, or 'better than late than never' since that seems to be a universal concept.

Thirdly, use them when you create one that might have arisen in the culture you've created.
You might use 'like a kurrumvor to candy' if a kurrumvor is a creature with a sweet tooth known to rush to any source of sugar.

Fourthly, use them when you can adapt one to suit the culture you've created. For example, 'like an ogre in a corn field' instead of 'a bull in a china shop.'

As always, the when, where, which way and how many times you use this particularly literary technique in your own work is up to you, and like everything you write, you'll need to consider how it impacts on your readers' enjoyment of your work.