hackneyed
The adjective hackneyed simply means "worn out by overuse." According to Oxford Dictionaries, "hackney" was originally in use to indicate a horse hired for a carriage or coach - in other words, an ordinary harnessed horse. As opposed, I assume, to the "high horses" (hee hee) used in the military. Presumably also indicating an area of London called Hackney where horses were put to pasture.
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