Original things that became Cliche

Ever had a favourite word that became popular? A name that someone else made famous? How about a phrase that got overused so everyone hates it now?

I have many.

I used to like the name 'Turner,' until pirates of the carribean came out. Now whenever I use it people call it unoriginal, even if it has nothing to do with sailing.

'drowning in <insert emotion>', I always liked the description of drowning, the whole idea of being surrounded, unable to breath, and the watery reference. Then the emo's got hold of it.

Anybody else?

Pretty much anything tolkien used. He's a paragon, but he had SO MUCH going on in his stories, he kinda used up every fantasy plot line there was.

Oh! The same thing is happening with Harry Potter. There were plenty of books about Magic schools before, but now if you do that you copying. There's other stuff aswell from that series.

Sigh. Chosen Ones. I love the idea, but there are so many that I could never write one that wasn't similar to another.
And Fantasy creatures. If one writer writes a certain version of a fantastic creature, and it becomes popular, then that is the defenition of that character.
Like Dragons can not be anything other than Eragon.
Elves are always Tolkien.
Werewolves are Remus Lupin, almost always.
And don't even get me started on Twilight's vampires.
All these books are wonderful, and I love their characters and creatures, but honestly, can't readers think outside of the box?
sigh.

Some things simply get clichéd the heck out of, like this_is_history said: why do things always have to be called unoriginal because of such a small thing, like a species or a place in a family (godfather, aunt, etc) that they have in common with a popular story ??



I wrote a short story called "the Letter" which involved a girl finding out she has a godmother, who is in jail.
someone said it sounded like harry potter, and to be honest, I had to think twice before I realized what they meant ! It doesn't include any magic and such, so I don't think that it is significantly alike.



So I guess all murderous godmothers/fathers are HP style
I didnt mind the comment, though, ppl are entitled to their opinion.

Xxx Do

I'll ignore the Eragon comment (except I can't - dragons can be everything other than Eragon).

Who can forget "I am your father"? That has to be the definitive cliche.