A while ago, there was a post on Language Log regarding a particular familiar six-word phrase or saying. Part of the comment discussion went to the question of why some phrases appear very frequently "in public" (meaning: on the web / in Google's index). While, in contrast, research has shown that almost any other phrase of at least 6 words will be completely unique, even within a space as vast as the entire public web.
My explanation for why many "common" phrases are so common: There's a vast degree of utility to them! Not only for the supposedly-"lazy" author, but they can be extremely helpful to the reader. As an example, consider the following...
A few years back, one particular bank in my area attempted to "humanize" their ATMs. In some misguided bid to make the interface more "friendly", the standard prompts and options were rewritten to use casual phrasing and less stilted language. Messages to the user were frequently written in first-person form ("What can I help you with?", "Please tell me your secret code"), and even the "Yes" and "No" selection buttons became "Sure" and "No, Thanks".
I doubt that software is still in place, but I wouldn't know — it drove me away from using those ATMs almost immediately. The simplest transaction took me at least twice as long on their machines, and the number of times I chose too quickly and accidentally hit the wrong option became intolerable. It was quicker and less aggravating to walk an extra block to a different bank, than to face their "friendly" interface.
We expect to see "Yes" and "No", when we're making choices at an ATM. They don't use those particular words because they're thrilling and clever turns of phrase, but because they're not! They're the most common, boring representations of their respective concepts. We're immediately able to match those words to the choices they represent, and we don't even need to consciously read the labels. But replace "Yes" with "Sure", and you're forced to read the words, then actively think about their meanings and determine which one represents your intended response, before you can press the correct button.
Cliches and "standard" phrasings serve a similar purpose, in purely utilitarian communication. I can recognize and derive meaning from the words "before turning the gun on himself" without even reading the entire phrase, because it's immediately familiar to me. Which, in turn, means that I can read an article written using such phrasing far more quickly, and without devoting nearly as much concentration to the act, as when I read something crafted using unique, elegantly-formed, interesting sentences.
Interesting, unique writing has its place, and its appeal. But to facilitate the simplest and most efficient transfer of knowledge/information, so does its opposite.
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