Platitude
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This article is about the term Platitude. For the Swedish progressive metal band Platitude, see Platitude (band).
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A platitude is a trite, meaningless, or prosaic statement, generally directed at quelling social, emotional, or cognitive unease. The word derives from plat, French word for "flat." Platitudes are geared towards presenting a shallow, unifying wisdom over a difficult topic. However, they are too overused and general to be anything more than undirected statements with ultimately little meaningful contribution towards a solution. Examples could be statements such as "Meet in the middle", "Everybody has a right to an opinion", "Everything happens for a reason", "It is what it is", and "Do what you can". Platitudes are generally a form of thought-terminating cliché.
See also
- Bromide (language)
- Buzzword
- Saw (saying)
- Snowclone
- Superficiality
- Thought-terminating cliché
- Truism
Sources
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