On the chat today I mentioned that I'd seen the word snowclone and wondered what it meant. Apparently it was coined by people at the Language Log, and Wikipedia defines it as:

quote:

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."

An example would be "pink is the new black."

Have you seen the word used? It's only in Wiktionary and Wikipedia in Onelook and of course it's not in the OED, as it was only recently coined. Will it last, do you think?

Yes, I've heard it and read it. One never knows about the birthing, rearing, lifespan, and death of words, except after the fact.

And there's a website dedicated to collecting them (link).

I even use the word. It's quite a neat concept.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BobHale,

Thanks for the link, z. It helped me understand the meaning better. I especially enjoyed watching the YouTube link to "There's no crying in baseball!"