Snowclones

The "phrases for lazy writers kit" was dubbed "snowclones" by Glenn Whitman at Agoraphilia link. ❋ Unknown (2006)

The term "snowclones" was coined 3 seconds before 10:57 p.m., January 15, 2004, in Northridge, California. ❋ Ann Althouse (2007)

One of my favourite long-running themes is spotting what Language Log have called 'snowclones'. ❋ Unknown (2005)

They're actually all "snowclones," a term coined by economist Glen Whitman, who was punning on the syrup-flavored shaved ice snowcone, says Paul McFedries in ❋ Unknown (2008)

Connoisseurs of those phrasal templates known as snowclones may recognize the headline from The Age ( "Swine flu is the new ..." ❋ Unknown (2009)

And here is some discussion of snowclones in the particular context of welcoming our new * overlords. trackback ❋ Unknown (2007)

I for one welcome any opportunity to revisit the topic of snowclones. on 15 Jul 2007 at 2:37 pm3St. Frank ❋ Unknown (2007)

Or perhaps this: “The ironic use of snowclones was amusing for a while, but by the fourth comment, not so much.” on 17 Jul 2007 at 4:53 pm5Jay Czarnecki ❋ Unknown (2007)

For instance, Category One snowclones are not dangerous and generally reach no further than the speech of unimaginative mouth-breathers and bloggers. ❋ Unknown (2007)

Language Log is a great resource; Its history of covering the "many words for snow" myth that gave snowclones their name is well documented. ❋ Unknown (2006)

Other phrases have become snowclones-those adaptable expressions that are just about everywhere. ❋ Unknown (2009)

"Consider the armadillo" does indeed sound like journalistic hackwork, all the more because it's in the form of a early formulation, Geoff Pullum defined snowclones as "some-assembly-required adaptable cliché frames for lazy journalists." ❋ Unknown (2009)

Yesterday I posted on my blog about a case that combines features of snowclones and idioms: the formula THE WHOLE X 'the whole matter, everything to do with the matter', the most famous exemplar of which is the whole nine yards, as in: ❋ Unknown (2009)

By now, scores of snowclones are firmly entrenched in mainstream culture: ❋ Unknown (2008)

We’ve had a few interesting discussions here about snowclones. ❋ Unknown (2007)

One of the great snowclones of our age is “X is the new black“, a construction that generalizes into “X is the new Y”. ❋ Unknown (2007)

-"YOLO- You Only Live Once" snowcloned into "OOYL- Only Once You Live" among others. -"Netflix & Chill" is a [snowclone] along with it's many predecessors such as: "[Hulu & Hang]" or "4Chan & Van" as a way to imply a sexual interest is present. -Drake's infamous lyric: "[Started From the Bottom Now We Here]" became a snowclone almost instantly, prompting many jokes and memes including well-regarded "Started From the Bottom Now We a Little Bit Above the Bottom" jab. ❋ Idtst (2016)

A common example of a snowclone is "X [is the new] Y", a [generic] form of the original expression "pink is the new black". [Wikipedia] ❋ Alan Barker (2007)