Snowclone
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A snowclone is a type of cliché and phrasal template 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]
An example of a snowclone is "X is the new black", itself a version of the expression "X is the new Y". X and Y may be replaced with new words or phrases – for example, "comedy is the new rock 'n' roll".[2] Both the generic formula and the new phrases produced from it are called "snowclones".
It 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.
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[edit] History
The term was coined by Glen Whitman on January 15, 2004,[1] in response to a request from Geoffrey Pullum on the Language Log weblog.[3] Pullum endorsed it as a term of art the next day,[4] and it has since been adopted by other linguists, journalists, and authors.[5][6][7][8][9] The term alludes to one of Pullum's example template phrases:
- If Eskimos have N words for snow, X surely have Y words for Z.
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 Z,[10][11] despite the fact that the basic premise is wrong: Eskimos do not have an unusually large number of words for "snow".
In 1995, linguist David Crystal referred to this kind of trope as a "catch structure", citing as an example the phrase "to boldly split infinitives that no man had split before" as originally used in Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series (1978).[12] Adams' phrase is a reference to a Star Trek phrase "...to boldly go where no man has gone before!", which contains a split infinitive, a construction decried by late-19th-century prescriptive grammarians[13][14] but which most experts on language now agree is sometimes appropriate.[15]
[edit] Other examples
- "Have X, will travel." It was popularized by Have Gun – Will Travel, the title of a 1957–1963 U.S. radio and television series, which derived from the stock phrasing of short "want ads" in Variety: an example is Have Tux, Will Travel,[16] the title of Bob Hope's memoirs.[17] The title of Robert A. Heinlein's 1958 novel Have Spacesuit, Will Travel also referred to this stock phrase.
- "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", as well as the responses "'GOTO Considered Harmful' Considered Harmful" and "'"GOTO Considered Harmful" Considered Harmful' Considered Harmful?".[18]
- "Got X?" This was originated by the "Got Milk?" campaign by the California Milk Processor Board in 1993, and has spawned many imitators, such as "Got Jesus?", "Got Beer?", and "Got Rice?".[19]
- "X-gate", used to describe many political scandals since the Watergate scandal.
- "The mother of all Xs", used at least since Saddam Hussein promised "the mother of all battles".[20][21]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Whitman, Glen (2004-01-14). "Phrases for Lazy Writers in Kit Form Are the New Cliches". http://agoraphilia.blogspot.com/2004_01_11_agoraphilia_archive.html#107412842921919301. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2003-10-27). "Phrases for lazy writers in kit form". Language Log. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000061.html. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
- ^ Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2004-01-16). "Snowclones: lexicographical dating to the second". Language Log. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000350.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-20.
- ^ Krauss, Michael E. (2007-09-04). "New snow clone? No, old eggcorn". Mr. Verb. http://mr-verb.blogspot.com/2007/09/new-snow-clone.html//. Retrieved on 2009-03-20.
- ^ Zimmer, Benjamin (2007-08-09). "Phrasal Patterns 2: Electric Boogaloo". Oxford University Press. http://blog.oup.com/2007/08/patterns/. Retrieved on 2009-03-20.
- ^ Sarno, David (2008-08-06). "The Snowclone Awards: Googling for Cliché Memes". Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/webscout/2008/08/the-snowclone-a.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-20.
- ^ Abley, Mark (2008). The Prodigal Tongue: Dispatches from the Future of English. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 173. ISBN 9780618571222.
- ^ McFedries, Paul (February, 2008). "Snowclone Is The New Cliché". IEEE Spectrum. http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/feb08/5909. Retrieved on 2009-03-20.
- ^ Liberman, Mark (2005-06-18). "Etymology as argument". Language Log. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002248.html. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
- ^ Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2003-10-21). "Bleached conditionals". Language Log. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000049.html. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
- ^ Crystal, David (1995). The Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 178.
- ^ Bache, Richard Meade (1869). Vulgarisms and Other Errors of Speech (second edition ed.). Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen, and Haffelfinger. p. 145. http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC08255078&id=TQkSAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA145&dq=%22Richard+Meade+Bache%22+vulgarisms. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
- ^ Raub, Robert N. (1897). Helps in the Use of Good English. Philadelphia. p. 120. http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC16359251&id=ylAzsng06n4C&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=Raub+helps. Retrieved on 2006-11-13.
- ^ "Go Ahead, Split an Infinitive!". Business Writing Blog. March 2006. http://www.businesswritingblog.com/business_writing/2006/03/go_ahead_split_.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-10.
- ^ "have". Online Etymology Dictionary. November 2001. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=have. 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. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004675.html. Retrieved on 2007-10-30.
- ^ Got staying power? Landmark milk marketing campaign celebrates 10th anniversary. | Consumer Products > Food & Beverage Products from AllBusiness.com
- ^ Chicago Sun-Times, 'Mother of all cliches is invading the language', 17 March 1991
- ^ "GBU-43/B "Mother Of All Bombs" MOAB - Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb"
[edit] Further reading
- "How the Web Is Changing Language". NPR Talk of the Nation. 2006-06-28. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5518444. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
- Peters, Mark (July/August 2006). "Not Your Father's Cliché". Columbia Journalism Review. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3613/is_200607/ai_n17171280. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
- "The word: Snowclone". New Scientist (2578). 2006-11-18. http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg19225780.126-the-word-snowclone.html. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
- Warburton, Annie (2007-03-24). "I mean, what's it mean?". Hobart, Tasmania: The Mercury.
- Smith, Russell (2007-05-31). "Do you speak kitteh?". Toronto: The Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070531.wxrussell31/BNStory/Entertainment. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
- Vaszily, Scott (2007-08-04). "Colourful language (letter)". New Scientist (2615). http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19526151.300-colourful-language.html. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
- McFedries, Paul (February 2008). "Snowclone Is The New Cliché". IEEE Spectrum. http://spectrum.ieee.org/feb08/5909. Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
[edit] External links
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Look up snowclone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- O'Connor, Erin. "The Snowclones Database". http://snowclones.org/. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
- Pullum, Geoffrey (2004-01-16). "Snowclones: lexicographical dating to the second". Language Log. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000350.html. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.
