Wordcraft Community Home Page
Snowclone

This topic can be found at:
https://wordcraft.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/932607094/m/9401059895

December 27, 2008, 21:29
Kalleh
Snowclone
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?
December 28, 2008, 06:58
zmježd
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).


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
December 28, 2008, 07:05
BobHale
I even use the word. It's quite a neat concept.

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


"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
December 28, 2008, 19:35
Kalleh
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!" Smile