It's Not Rocket Science: And Other Irritating Modern Cliches »

Clive Whichelow has written for Jonathan Ross and Spitting Image and has coauthored such titles as They X-Rayed My Head and Found Nothing: The Ultimate A–Z of Very Stupid Things Said by Very Famous People. Hugh Murray's TV and radio writing credits include work for Steve Coogan and Smack the Pony.

In the last 30 years, new technology, fashion, and social set-ups have spawned new clichés galore. Everything on the internet is available at the "click of a mouse," TV hosts ask the audience to "give it up" when they want them to applaud, call centers say "we value your call" even though "all our operators are busy." And if someone "gobsmacked" by all this they may be told to "get a life," "chill out," or "whatever." This collection sifts through all aspects of modern life to find the most prevalent, ubiquitous, and downright irritating clichés of our age.