WITH a little bit of thought, one could speak entirely in cliches – for a time anyway – but most people are content to simply sprinkle what they say with these pearls of wisdom. At some time or other, everybody uses cliches because it is easier than think

WITH a little bit of thought, one could speak entirely in cliches - for a time anyway - but most people are content to simply sprinkle what they say with these pearls of wisdom.

At some time or other, everybody uses cliches because it is easier than thinking of something original to say.

Quite often, they are bandied around in the workplace. A new study has revealed that six out of ten employees hate it when their boss churns out cliche after cliche. But on the other side of the coin, one in three bosses have pulled an employee to one side to ask them not to use cliches in meetings with clients.

I think that their requests fall on deaf ears because it is so hard for people not to use cliches.

How often, in an office environment, are you likely to hear "It's not rocket science", "Thinking outside the box", "Going forward", "By the close of play", "Give you the heads up", "Hit the ground running" and "I know it's a big ask".

All these are in the top 20 of most frequently used cliches. Others include "What goes around, comes around", "It's not rocket science", Flogging a dead horse", "Don't shoot the messenger", "Live and learn", "C'est la vie", "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" and "Always look on the bright side of life".

But these examples do not include the cliche judged to be the most commonly used one, reckoned to be uttered on average at least three times a day in every workplace.

So what is it? At the end of the day, it is...yes, that's it, a favourite of Premier League footballers and all manner of other people.

One of my favourite expressions is "Okey dokey" when I am agreeing with somebody but strangely enough I only use it in the office.

Something I enjoy in the run up to Christmas is publication of the RSPCA's comedy calls of the year.

Ranging from the weird and wonderful to the downright wacky, these are taken from the more than one million calls received at the animal charity's national call centre.

There was one from a person reporting a slow-moving tortoise on the hard shoulder of a motorway. The Highways Agency investigated and tracked down a deflated football.

Someone else reported that a seagull was looking sad because it was sitting in the rain.

A woman called the emergency number to ask to reserve a chair she saw in an RSPCA charity shop window.

Another woman asked if the centre could collect her RSPCA catalogue from her friend's house as she had borrowed it a long time ago and not returned it.

An RSPCA inspector went to a house after it was reported a bat had been on the bedroom ceiling for a number of days, only to find it was a damp patch.

Then there was the hotel located next to a duck pond which said its guests were complaining because they could hear the sound of quacking.

There must be something worthy of a cliche in there somewhere.