Definitions
Wiktionary
- n. A type of cliché which uses an old idiom formulaically in a new context.
Etymologies
- Blend of snow cone and clone, after the popular idea that Eskimos have a large number of words for different types of snow; coined by Glen Whitman in response to Geoffrey Pullum on the blog Language Log. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“A snowclone is a popular sentence structure which is recycled and adapted from the original quote by replacing key words.”
“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?”
“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".”
“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
“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
“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
“A smart diagram is the new clever writing: LeisureArts charts out my favorite snowclone.”
“I guess that the title of this post is a snowclone.”
“And now "Let's Take a Closer Look at those..." has become an Althouse snowclone.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘snowclone’.
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longer new words in Scrabble
these were collected recently
mostly from Chambers and some
from Collins dictionaries.acathisia, acathisias, acentrics, aciclovir, aciclovirs, acidically, acinetobacter, acinetobacters, acrophobics, aculeates, advertizings, aerodigestive and 1320 more...
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#faveword
Words chosen as favorites for the Twitter hashtag #faveword.
autumnal, grotto, chiaroscuro, sfumato, homunculus, zing, zest, effervescent, bewitch, avuncular, susurrus, Styrofoam and 205 more...
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MiaLuthien's list ♥
gambit, prehensile, coquetry, impunity, genuflect, ensconce, clavicle, delude, beget, castigate, life caching, convoluted and 478 more...
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slumry's Words
cattywampus, ingratiate, lackadaisical, exactitude, exfoliate, fulminate, circumnavigation, circuitous, debride, sidle, sequester, chicory and 1002 more...
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Words grabbed from real life conversa...
If I've seen it, heard it, or marvelled at it, I'll stick it here.
cruft, ermine, redundant, shakespearean, camino, marvelous, stupendous, chagrin, shaven, sleek, smug, stillness and 325 more...
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dann's words
just some nice words that i like.
beamish, snark, sundry, contrariwise, salsify, cephalopod, omphaloskepsis, grok, resistentialism, peristerophobia, aglet, ferrule and 125 more...
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vinyl's Words
deliverator, finna, metric fuckton, fag, hyphy, ginormous, sacrilicious, fantabulous, macaca, n-word, pterodactyl, genious and 560 more...
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The Collection
A somewhat discriminatory list of words and phrases collected for their euphonic or arcane appeal, interesting etymology, or concise definition of an otherwise unnamed phenomenon or concept.
ziggurat, neophilia, sucker punch, soporific, epoch, tundra, fiat, idiotproof, miscellany, metaphysics, cryptozoology, dysphoria and 850 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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learning
A list of words whose meanings I am learning, either because a) I don't know the meaning b) I know the meaning, but could stand to better appreciate certain inflections or secondary meanings or c) ...
louche, educe, loam, cob, sclerotic, palliate, axial, syndicalist, ecumenical, sally, fatuous, parvenu and 1381 more...
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Tawkward
Verbal 'wtf' exchanges; odd moments of conversation and socializing.
somniloquy, bafflegab, syllepsis, sesquipedalian, whinge, divulge, anacoluthon, anaphora, sumpsimus, persiflage, eristic, overtones and 198 more...
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sarahatlee's Words
pants, nekkid, schadenfreude, unseasonably, illicit, glaswegian, cripes, futz, drawers, scupper, coulrophobic, redacted and 254 more...
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hober's Words
anglosphere, wiki, slither, cylon, satchel, faustian, ragamuffin, frak, salient, fervid, tartan, snowclone and 299 more...
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Clearinghouse
For stuff to simply reside.
calcar, pinion, espadrille, antipodes, peregrine, cormorant, tanager, vireo, farrago, undervest, passerine, oscine and 881 more...
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Collagency ✂
Comparing images, cut-up, and mixing meaning.
clusterfuck, fungible, juxtaposition, assemblage, cut, paste, arrangement, theme, symbolism, association, amalgam, represtational and 110 more...
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Nihilarity
Absurdity, dark art, radicalism, anger, tragic irony, and nothingness. Tee-hee!
nihilism, dada, futurism, rayonism, postmodernity, deconstruction, surrealism, existentialism, reductio ad absurdum, discordianism, operation mindfuck, amorality and 127 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for snowclone.
MalignantMouse 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.") Aug 23, 2009
Coruscation 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. Jul 5, 2009
bilby "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. Jan 3, 2008
jrome http://snowclones.org/
http://blog.oup.com/2007/08/patterns/#more-1061 Aug 16, 2007
whichbe "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... Jul 20, 2007
seanahan I'm really starting to dislike the "X is the new Y" cliche. Jul 20, 2007
slumry (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 Jul 20, 2007