For communicators, a world of options for spicing up text

Author’s bounty of foreign idioms provides alternatives to the humdrum

Is content still king, or has it become so common that it’s reached the level of vassal?

Face it, we’re overrun with content — and internal/external communicators are adding to the deluge. Heck, it’s your job. To make your prose stand out — in news releases, e-mails, even tweets — you do all you can to find innovative means of expression.

Here’s an idea — a counterintuitive one: Try clichés.

The trick is in finding clichés that are fresh, interesting, maybe even a little exotic. (I told you this is counterintuitive.) But you certainly could “add oil and vinegar” to your missives.

“Add oil and vinegar?” It means to embellish; it’s a Chinese saying.

Let’s explain. Say, for example, you’re talking about overkill on a given issue. Try, “We don’t want to shoot sparrows with a cannon.” That’s a German expression, one that many non-Germans haven’t heard.