Pedestrianisms

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Descriptive terms or phrases related to ordinary or unremarkable aspects of one's life or surroundings
2. expressions that lack originality or creativity in their usage
3. a collection of commonplace expressions that reflect the mundane aspects of daily experiences

Etymology: "Pedestrianisms" is the plural of "pedestrianism", a noun built from "pedestrian" plus the suffix "-ism". The base word goes back through Old French and Latin to "pedester", meaning "on foot", from "pedes", "foot", with the same root that gives English "pedal" and "impede" in a broader sense. The "-ism" ending comes from Greek "-ismos", which turns an action or state into a noun, so the ancestry is a chain of foot-related words stacked around a suffix that means little on its own. The noun "pedestrianism" itself refers to walking, and the phrase "pedestrian" was long used to describe something dull and plodding, a sense that clings to the modern word. Its plural "pedestrianisms" names individual ordinary expressions, the flat, commonplace turns of phrase that a speaker might use without thinking, as if each one were a single step along a familiar path.

Synonyms: platitudes, clichés, banalities, triteness, commonplaces

Antonyms: originality, innovation, creativity, novelty, uniqueness