Every Change A Sea

When did it become a mandatory cliche that every significant change be called a “sea change”?

I relish the sense of mysterious transformation to which Shakespeare applied the expression “sea-change” in The Tempest; when writers imprecisely apply it to simpler differences, I second Paul Brians’s advice: “Avoid the phrase; otherwise you will irritate those who know it and puzzle those who do not.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *