Snowclone

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A snowclone is a type of formula-based cliché that uses an old idiom in a new context.^[1] It is a special case of phrasal templates. 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."^[2]

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 may be different in meaning from the original formula but can be understood using the same trope as the original formulation.

An example of a snowclone is "X is the new Y", a generic form of the 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.

1 History
2 Other examples
3 See also
4 References
5 Further reading
6 External links

[edit] History

The term was coined by Glen Whitman on January 15, 2004,^[2] in response to a request from Geoffrey Pullum on the Language Log weblog.^[3] 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] (Adams's phrase is a reference to ...to boldly go where no man has gone before!, which is the end of the introductory voiceover to the original Star Trek series.)

[edit] Other examples

Have X, will travel. It was popularized by Have Gun – Will Travel, the title of a 1957-1963 US radio and television show, which derived from the phrase "Have Tux, Will Travel",^[7] which was a title of Bob Hope's memoirs.^[8] Robert Heinlen's 1958 novel Have Spacesuit, Will Travel was also a take-off of the show.

X considered harmful. The rise of this phrasal template was sparked by Edsger Dijkstra's 1968 letter to the Communications of the ACM titled "Go To Statement Considered Harmful".^[9]

[edit] See also

Catch phrase
Mad Libs
Meta-joke
Computational humor; usage of phrasal templates for computer generation of jokes

[edit] References

^ Erard, Michael. "Analyzing Eggcorns and Snowclones, and Challenging Strunk and White.", New York Times, June 20, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-09-25. "Regular readers learned there first about snowclones, the basic building blocks of clichés, like "X is the new Y" or "you don't need a degree in A to do B.""
^ ^a ^b Whitman, Glen (2004-01-14). Phrases for Lazy Writers in Kit Form Are the New Cliches. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
^ Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2003-10-27). Phrases for lazy writers in kit form. Language Log. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
^ Liberman, Mark (2005-06-18). Etymology as argument. Language Log. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
^ Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2003-10-21). Bleached conditionals. Language Log. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
^ Crystal, David (1995). The Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 178.
^ have. Online Etymology Dictionary (November 2001). Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
^ Hope, Bob (1954). Have Tux, Will Travel: Bob Hope's Own Story as Told to Pete Martin. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0743261038. “Hoofers, comedians and singers used to put ads in Variety. Those ads read: 'Have tuxedo, will travel'. It meant they were ready to go any place any time... It also meant that they would be dressed classy when they showed up.”
^ Liberman, Mark (2007-07-03). Considered harmful. Language Log. Retrieved on 2007-10-30.