Rex Sorgatz of Fimoculous ("Feeding on itself"—the name is a play on the rare word fimicolous 'inhabiting or growing on dung') has posted his list of the "Best Blogs of 2007 That You (Maybe) Aren't Reading"; one entry is:
6) SnowclonesI was delighted to see Erin O'Connor's Snowclones Database get the recognition, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't equally pleased to see LH keeping it company. Thanks, Rex! (And Nancy Friedman's Away With Words is well worth checking out as well.) Posted by languagehat at December 20, 2007 05:11 PM
A snowclone -- says Wikipedia, cuz it outta know -- is "a type of formula-based cliche that uses an old idiom in a new context." The best example is the rampant usage of "X is the new Y." But there are so many others, such as "Don't hate me because I'm X," "In X, no one can hear you Y," "Not rest for the X," "To X or not to X," "Xgate," "Xcore," "Got X?" -- and many more. The site is so diligent in its pursuit of the cliche and the trite that you might fall stricken with a loss of words, gasping "This is not your daddy's snowclone." (See also: Language Hat and Away With Words.)
Jane Espenson (http://janeespenson.com/), professional TV writer, says that in her line of work these worn-out formulas are referred to as "clams." An even better term, I think, because when shellfish get old they begin to stink.
Just the other day I was thinking, "I have no X and I must Y."
Posted by: Jeremy Osner at December 21, 2007 01:01 PM
There's noclone like snowclone.
Um, of course you should be mentioned. No surprise there :D
Posted by: mj at December 21, 2007 08:50 PM