Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A phrase or sentence made by substituting one or more words in a cliché, existing set phrase, or well-known sentence.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A type of
cliché which uses an oldidiom formulaically in a new context.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word snowclone.
Examples
-
A snowclone is a popular sentence structure which is recycled and adapted from the original quote by replacing key words.
-
A snowclone is a popular sentence structure which is recycled and adapted from the original quote by replacing key words.
-
I am guessing the name 'snowclone' is an allusion to the American 'snowcone' frozen deserts desserts, which consist of plain crushed ice to which flavour is added.
-
For a moment I thought "snowclone" was a shortened version of "it's no clone".
-
I am guessing the name 'snowclone' is an allusion to the American 'snowcone' frozen deserts desserts, which consist of plain crushed ice to which flavour is added.
-
Arnold Zwicky of Language Log has reported on a long-needed investigation into the history of the cliché or, to a Language Logger, "snowclone" What is this X of which you speak?
-
A Cat Five snowclone can rip the tongues from unwary media figures and warp the cultural institutions of an entire generation.
Rambles at starchamber.com » Blog Archive » X is the new Y, the network diagram 2007
-
I admit it pushes the boundary of the form, but my new favorite snowclone is this one, which is a great way to succinctly describe a situation requiring a tough trade-off of priorities:
Rambles at starchamber.com » Blog Archive » China makes, the world takes 2007
-
A smart diagram is the new clever writing: LeisureArts charts out my favorite snowclone.
-
Search engines can give us a sense of the vast destructive power of a rampaging snowclone.
Rambles at starchamber.com » Blog Archive » X is the new Y, the network diagram 2007
slumry commented on the word snowclone
(n) : a type of formula-based cliché which uses an old idiom in a new context, especially in journalism; for example "X is the new Y" or "It's X, but not as we know it"
Ninjawords
July 20, 2007
seanahan commented on the word snowclone
I'm really starting to dislike the "X is the new Y" cliche.
July 20, 2007
whichbe commented on the word snowclone
"is" as the basic structure of associative programming. "new" is just the bling to the most simple code ever, "(with event) x ~= (think about) y". (note the use of aboutequals). suggestions, unintentional or otherwise...
July 20, 2007
jrome commented on the word snowclone
http://snowclones.org/
http://blog.oup.com/2007/08/patterns/#more-1061
August 16, 2007
bilby commented on the word snowclone
"The continued reign of the "new black" snowclone dismays language watchdogs, in part because, like all cliches, it makes for mediocre writing and mediocre thinking. It also betrays a fetish for the new, and the new new. But there are signs that the trope has reached a level of terminal self-consciousness. Casual examination of the year in "new" betrays at least a couple of snowclones coined in a spirit of linguistic pranksterism, the results meant to explode the cliche through their own absurdity — in what way, exactly, is Christmas the new awesome?"
- 'Milk is the new oil, Iraq is the new Korea … enough already!', Drake Bennett, 3 Jan 2008.
January 3, 2008
Coruscation commented on the word snowclone
Idiom that has passed though a meme phase. E.g., X is the new Y. I am not an X but I play one on TV.
July 5, 2009
MalignantMouse commented on the word snowclone
X is the new Y!
X 2: Electric Bugaloo
The source being "The X have Y words for Z" (where the high number of words Y is supposed to demonstrate that the people X care a lot about some subject Z, such as, "Eskimos have a hundred words for snow.")
August 23, 2009