That’s writing for you. There are lots of words out there, but putting them together in a vaguely original order that conveys exactly what you’re trying to say with some sort of economy and resonance isn’t always that easy.
Bt then people also tend to get what the cliches mean, which saves time. I almost convulsed like an imploding paper bag the other week listening to someone telling his mates how a bike rode at a demo day. It was like listening to a magazine test made flesh: ‘weapon’, ‘point and shoot’, ‘buttery smooth’, ‘deceptively fast’, ‘doesn’t ride like a 30lb bike’ all made an appearance.
It was brilliant. And it would never have happened without bike test cliches…