snowclone
Sign in to saveA snowclone is a clichéd phrase in which one or more words can be substituted to express a similar idea in a different context, often to humorous or sarcastic effect. For example, the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's widely publicized phrase "the mother of all battles" in 1991 spawned such variations as "the mother of all traffic jams". The term snowclone was coined in 2004, derived from journalistic clichés that referred to the number of Inuit words for snow.
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Article
18 sectionsContents
- History and derivation
- Notable examples
- Eskimo words for snow
- In space, no one can hear you {{var|X}}
- {{var|X}} is the new {{var|Y}}
- The mother of all {{var|X}}
- {{var|X}}-ing while {{var|Y}}
- To {{var|X}} or not to {{var|X}}
- Have {{var|X}}, will travel
- The Tao of X
- {{var|X}} considered harmful
- {{var|X}} as a service
- Similar concepts
- Liberated suffixes
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
A snowclone is a clichéd phrase in which one or more words can be substituted to express a similar idea in a different context, often to humorous or sarcastic effect. For example, the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's widely publicized phrase "the mother of all battles" in 1991 spawned such variations as "the mother of all traffic jams". The term snowclone was coined in 2004, derived from journalistic clichés that referred to the number of Inuit words for snow.
==History and derivation== The linguistic phenomenon of "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 variants" was originally described by linguist Geoffrey K. Pullum in 2003. Pullum later described snowclones as "some-assembly-required adaptable cliché frames for lazy journalists".