Discover

A 'snowclone' is a type of formula-based cliché which uses an old idiom in a new . It was originally defined as "a multi-use, customizable, instantly recognizable, time-worn, quoted or misquoted phrase or sentence that can be used in an entirely open array of different jokey variants by lazy journalists and writers."^[1]
The term emphasizes the use of a familiar (and often particular) formula and previous cultural knowledge of the reader to express information about an idea. The idea being discussed is usually contextually different in meaning from the original use of that formula but can be understood using the same trope as the original formulation.
A common example of a snowclone is "X is the new Y", a generic form of the original expression "pink is the new black". In order to apply the snowclone, X and Y should be replaced with new words or phrases. For instance, this snowclone might appear as "Random is the new order", a marketing phrase for the iPod shuffle. See the list of snowclones for further examples.

Contents

History

Examples

See also

References

External links

History

The term was coined by Glen Whitman on January 15, 2004,^[2][3] in response to a request from Geoffrey Pullum on the Language Log weblog.¹ The term is an allusion to a specific instance of the phenomenon:
:''If the Eskimos have 'N' words for snow, 'X' surely have 'M' words for 'Y'.''
As the Language Log explains, this is a popular rhetorical trope used by journalists to imply that cultural group 'X' has reason to spend a great deal of time thinking about the specific idea 'Y',^[4][5] despite the fact that the basic premise is wrong: Eskimos do not have an unusually large number of words for "snow" (''see Eskimo words for snow'').
In 1995, David Crystal referred to these kinds of tropes as "catch structures", citing "to boldly split infinitives that no man had split before", a phrase originally used in Douglas Adams' ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' radio series (1978), as an example.^[6]

Examples

★ In space, no one can hear you 'X'. (Original: "In space, no one can hear you scream", the tagline for ''Alien'')

★ All your 'X' are belong to 'Y'. (Original: "All Your Base Are Belong To Us", an Internet meme from Zero Wing)

★ Have 'X', will travel. (Original: ''Have Gun — Will Travel'', the title of old US TV western, or the vaudeville phrase "have tux, will travel"^[7])

★ 'X' or bust. (Original: "Oregon or Bust!" on the side of covered wagons in the Old West.)

★ To 'X', or not to 'X'? (Original: "To be, or not to be" from ''Hamlet'')

★ Will 'X' for 'Y'. (Original: "Will work for food")

★ "In 'Z', you 'Y' 'X'. In Soviet Russia, 'Y' 'X's ''YOU''!" (Original: "In Soviet Russia, party always finds you!" From standup television commercial for beer by Yakov Smirnoff (c. 1980s). See Russian reversal.)

See also

★ Catch phrase

★ ''Mad Libs''

★ Meta-joke

References

1. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000061.html
2. http://agoraphilia.blogspot.com/2004_01_11_agoraphilia_archive.html#107412842921919301
3. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000350.html
4. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002248.html
5. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000049.html
6. David Crystal, ''The Encyclopedia of the English Language.''Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. 178
7. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=have

External links

★ The Snowclones Database by Erin O'Connor

★ Snowclones: lexicographical dating to the second

★ "Trendsurfing: 'Snowclone' journalism" (David Rowan, ''The Times'', 2005-12-03).

★ "The Word: Snowclone" New Scientist, Issue 2578, 2006-11-18.