COMMENTARY
Cliches, like old columns, may yet serve a use

By John Griffin

Today's offering involves what I call semicols — a literary, or at least journalistic, device to cover several subjects.

So let's think cliches, also-rans, words to live by, and the year 2050. Some relate to former columns.

When it comes to cliches, I rank right up there with the best of them (there's one). Indeed, I winced rereading one of my recent columns that said "we are far from perfect" in Hawai'i on racial matters.

A friend recently gave us a Dictionary of Cliches, some 3,500 such well-worn terms and expressions. There should be a column in there, I thought. In fact, there could be many. Just going through the B's, I strung together these thoughts:

"In Iraq we can't harken back to square one as the nation goes through another baptism of fire. We may be barking up the wrong tree in Baghdad and need to batten down the hatches for a battle royal. We are also finding Americans can't be all things to all men ... "

You get the idea?

In Hawai'i, I think a word like "kama'aina" hits cliche class when they play that jingle about "your kama'aina Pizza Hut." In fact, someone should sponsor a local cliche contest. My entry might begin like this:

"Lucky you come Hawai'i. This is truly a special da kine place.... Or maybe mo' bettah you try find cliche in 'Pidgin to da Max.' "

In the end, I agree with the dictionary's author-editor, Christine Ammer — who nominated "have a nice day" as a cliche that sets your teeth on edge (there's another) — but then wrote:

"Others are useful and picturesque shorthand that simplifies communication; an eye for an eye is one of those. In short, not all cliches are bad, and it is not the purpose of this book to persuade speakers and writers to avoid them altogether."

Not just also-rans

A few months back, I wrote a column about Tom Gill, the post-World War II Democratic leader who lost out for the governorship but was a key figure when the party came to power and launched a social revolution here in the 1940s, '50s and '60s.

That led author and social activist Emmett Cahill to call and write from his Big Island home to suggest I do a book on other important figures who have faded from sight or died. Many played vital roles that sometimes don't get enough credit in the histories.

We went over names such as former Lt. Gov. Nelson Doi and former Big Island Mayor Shunichi Kimura (who might have made a great governor). My later lists include outstanding legislators of both parties (Dave McClung, Hebden Porteus, etc.) and several powerful business leaders, such as Herb Cornuelle and Harold Eichelberger), who were influential University of Hawai'i regents.

I would include some labor leaders and editors of local Japanese-language papers (notably Yasutaro Soga and Fred Makino) in the early plantation struggles. And don't forget religion, social work, education and the arts.

Also-rans is not the right term for such people who, in their very different ways, did much for Hawai'i.

But my conclusion was that any such list, and any such book, would be unfair to too many people who get left out or at least minimized as the years slip by. I like the idea of naming "living treasures" in many segments of our society. That salutes many worthy people.

But you still have to wonder how many will make it into history.

One's word to live by

It's a little late for New Year resolutions, but consider something different.

A friend who deals with serious issues and community service announced a while back that she was forgoing such a list in favor of adopting one word as a guide in 2004. Her choice was "whimsical," and she's sticking with it despite a variety of family problems.

Then an activist friend in her 90s gave us a small bookshelf plaque with just one word written in silver: "inspire." That's a heavy burden for a columnist, much less someone trying to finish another novel.

Still, this is election year, and if you are looking for one-word possibilities, there are several:

We lost the chance for a "Deaning" of America. But there's still "Bushed" and "Kerry-on" and the hope we won't get sidetracked and descend to a "Nader."

Power of the press

Early this year, I wrote a column about Hawai'i's need to look beyond the next election, to think of the future as we did back in 1970, when we had the stimulating Governor's Conference on the Year 2000.

Alas, I led the last paragraph with an ill-advised sentence saying "I'm not advocating some new conference on the year 2050" as a stimulant to more visioning.

Fortunately, wiser heads at UH-Manoa didn't take me literally. So the Department of Planning and Urban Development, among others, is going to sponsor a June 12 conference that will look back from 2000 and ahead toward 2050.

It might even inspire some of our local political leaders and others to think beyond the November election.

John Griffin is former editor of The Advertiser's editorial pages and a frequent contributor.