1) Chestnuts 2) Clichés 3) Overused expressions 4) Platitudes 5) Trite sayings 6) Well-worn sayings 1) Old saws 2) Saws 
Salts of hydrobromic acid, hbr, with the bromine atom in the 1- oxidation state. ... (12 Dec 1998) ... 
A binary salt of bromine, formerly used as a simple sedative. Given so freely and with no intent of affecting a healing, it became synonymous with a useless treatment only meant to shut up the patient. Excessive bromide use can cause some pronounced neurologic disturbances... they disappear with cessation of the drug.