The development of an online cliche.

There are those who claim that the web isn't just filled with cliches, but that it's one long extended cliche. I'm not one of those, though I admit that sometimes it's close to impossible to find something truly distinct out there.

So I thought it might be interesting to trace a cliche and see how it gets used. But with over 400 web references to "children should be seen and not heard", I have to admit that I'm not about to make my research very in depth. I'll settle for a very cursory review.

I admit, I haven't checked out even half, so I won't be able to list statistics, but at least the general trends seem to be delineated:

some references are truly of the 19th century educational philosophy kind (Dorothy Sayers): they actually praise the idea and suggest its implementation today
some references poke fund at that sort of thinking, using the proverb as a starting point for expressing an opposing point of view
numerous references use the phrase as a teaser, along the lines of "why is a muffler like a child?"
more references than I would have expected deal with the folkloristic aspects of the phrase: where it comes from, what cultures use it, similar phrases in different cultures

And perhaps, had I guessed I'd find all these references, I might have chosen to leave the phrase out altogether (it certainly wasn't necessary for getting a point across), but then again, I suppose that for precisely the same reason I would have left it in.

Go to: I'm all dressed for the occasion