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Q: What are the most common English cliches you hear?
If ever i hear a student launch into "every coin has two sides" i shout "STOP !!"
"Stay hungry, stay foolish".
I hated it the first time I heard it from Bill Gates and I hate it even more now that it is quoted all the time and yet they really do not understand what he meant.
I just answer "why would anyone want to be a starving idiot?" 
GuilinRaf:
I was thinking along those lines, yes. "Stay hungry, stay foolish so that I can eat your food and outsmart you and become very rich while you waste away in starvation and ignorance. ha ha ha ha!".
que sera sera
every coin has two sides.this phrase is in a standard article of our middle school English book no wonder why it is been used so often..
sorrel:
I had never heard it before arriving in China. And I come from a place where using clichés is not uncommon
Nessquick:
Same here, we say every bread have 2 crusts. but never heard about coin, even in china :D
djangolee:
The translation version of this phrase is common in china.每个硬币都有两面。maybe someone of the editors just made it up..another piece of work about chinglish.well I have to admit I used it 100times in examinations in mid school..I turned to "even the moon has both bright side and dark side"after I listened the album of pink floyd.yeah I made that up too...
sorrel:
whenever I do speaking practice with students and they launch into a cliché I stop them and say "never use a cliché !!!!", only for them to continue on repeating the same clichés.
djangolee:
HAHA.There is a important issue here that in China teachers encourage students to use cliches in their articles or whatever as this is very appreciated in exam and can help you get a higher grade.Maybe some of them just get the habit and can't stop doing that....
When I was a student I found a good way to deal with it. I just made up a phrase and put that with some famous names...Well like this one,"Steve Jobs once said,Sorrel is a most beautiful girl" .How can you prove it wrong as Steve already died...
sorrel:
it is interesting to hear your perspective. I find most students don't know how to use clichés correctly, so i tell them not to use them at all. apart from the fact that is doesn't demonstrate a wide vocabulary. Other IELTS examiners i have spoken to also say the over-use of clichés LOWERS a score, rather than raise it.
djangolee:
I agree with you.Using it correctly helps while Over-use doesn't.Maybe you can teach them more phrases stuff so they can choose a suitable one when they need.just a piece of advice.
sorrel:
teaching students prepared phrases in English is not what IELTS is about. IMO, It is about being able to express and justify their own opinions while demonstrating an understanding of correct use of grammar and vocabulary, another-words : not parroting prepared material ! it is not an ideal examination in any sense of the word, and i have a lot of problems with the structure, but like TESOL, it is the best way to determine and measure a standard of English for use in a foreign environment.
djangolee:
got it
Thank you for your explanation.I found I can improve my English here....good for me...
every coin has two sides.this phrase is in a standard article of our middle school English book no wonder why it is been used so often..
"Who likes sex on a podium?" Yeaaaaah just kiddin'. No one ever said that to me. Wish they would...
sorrel:
get it added into Middle School English books and we will hear it being used regularly, and in the wrong context ;o)
happywanderer:
Hahaha, awesome. I see I need some contacts in the printing industry 
.
I've maybe heard a million and one of them, but truth is for me it is in one ear and out the other. I gave up listening to them long ago. Still don't know what to say to them as I sit here and some teenager or young adult explains to me about America. 'All Americans do this... All Americans do that... All Americans like this.... All Americans like that...' Meanwhile they have barely stepped foot out of their city , let alone their country.
Better late than sorry.........btw...I could see /imagine you shouting at people and them looking frightened of the westerner.....lol!
Not quite the same but PK. It's supposed to stand for player killer (presumably related to the Chinese game killer where you sit in a circle, close your eyes, and have to identify the killer). It's used to explain the situation where 2 people are competing e.g. for the same job - one will win and one will lose so they are PK'ing each other. I always hated this because it's one of those "English" acronyms that supposedly everyone knows but I've never heard of. Anyone else? My suspicion is PK as an acronym and the game killer both originate from China and aren't in use in any English-speaking countries. (And probably never will be despite people insisting that it already is.)
