Step 1 : Introduction to the question "What is the proper word for a phrase that is used too much, thus is less effective?"
...A cliché is a phrase that has been so overused, it has lost its effectiveness. Its original meaning or novelty has gotten lost. Clichés were once fresh and new but as they won popularity in the public lexicon, their extensive use makes them now sound lame and boring. Some even find them irritating, know what I mean? (That's a cliché.) Some common, and still overused and irritating, clichés include "fit as a fiddle," \ "as brave as a lion," \ "a matter of time," \ "as old as the hills." Source: LiteraryDevices.net
