Snowclone

Snowclone is a 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 variants". The term was coined as a neologism in 2004, described as "some-assembly-required adaptable cliché frames for lazy journalists". It refers to journalistic clichés which refer to Eskimo words for snow.

A typical example snowclone is the phrase "grey is the new black" (a form of the template "X is the new Y", in which "X" and "Y" may be replaced with different words or phrases—for example, Orange is the New Black or even "comedy is the new rock 'n' roll").

In October 2003, linguist Geoffrey K. Pullum described the phenomenon in a post on Language Log, a collaborative blog by several linguistics professors, and solicited ideas for what the phenomenon should be called. In response to the request, the word "snowclone" was coined by Glen Whitman on January 15, 2004, and Pullum endorsed it as a term of art the next day. The term has since been adopted by other linguists, journalists, and authors. The term alludes to one of Pullum's example template phrases:

If Eskimos have N words for snow, X surely have M words for Y.

As Language Log explains, this is a popular rhetorical trope used by journalists to imply that cultural group X has reason to spend a great deal of time thinking about the specific idea Y, although the basic premise (that Eskimos have a larger number of words for snow) is often disputed by those who study Eskimo languages.

Snowclones are related to both memes and clichés, as the Los Angeles Times' David Sarno notes, "Snowclones are memechés, if you will: meme-ified clichés with the operative words removed, leaving spaces for you or the masses to Mad Lib their own versions."

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