snowclone
noun/ˈsnəʊ.kləʊn/UK/ˈsnoʊ.kloʊn/US
Etymology
Blend of snow cone + clone, in reference to the phrase “If Eskimos have dozens of words for snow, X have as many for Y” (which is an example of a snowclone). Coined by American television writer and economist Glen Whitman in January 2004, in response to Geoffrey Pullum on the blog Language Log.
Definitions
A formulaic phrase that can be customized to fit a variety of contexts.
- I stumbled upon the site the other day, when I was looking up the origins of the "Im not an X, but I play one on TV" snowclone.
- Suddenly snowclone hunters were documenting media usages suggesting that, in space, no one can hear you belch, bitch, blog, speak, squeak or suck.
- Regular readers learned there first about snowclones, the basic building blocks of cliches, like "X is the new Y" or "you don't need a degree in A to do B."
To use a snowclone in speech or writing.
- Many journalists are guilty of serial snowcloning, but snowclones aren't always a symptom of laziness – they can be a cultural in-joke.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for snowclone. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA