A dizzying array of cliches

"Get me rewrite, sweetheart."

Washington Post Outlook section editor Carlos Lozada keeps a list of cliches his writers are forbidden to use. Among them:

• Paradigm shift (in journalism, all paradigms are shifting)
• Unlikely revolutionary (in journalism, all revolutionaries are unlikely)
• Unlikely reformer (in journalism, all reformers are unlikely)
• Grizzled veteran (in journalism, all veterans are grizzled – unless they are “seasoned”)
• Manicured lawns (in journalism, all nice lawns are manicured)
• Rose from obscurity (in journalism, all rises are from obscurity)
• Dizzying array (in journalism, all arrays make one dizzy)
• Withering criticism (in journalism, all criticism is withering)
• Predawn raid (in journalism, all raids are predawn)

And my favorite: the high-speed chase. In journalism, all chases are high-speed. This is to distinguish them from the low-speed chases.