Tag Archives: snowclones

Snowclone Collection

Yes.  SnowCLONEs.

A snowclone is a type of cliché sometimes 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.”

Phrasal Templates. 

I find them interesting.  You know?  Those phrases that have such a distinct identity, you can leave some blanks (to be filled in to fit what you are trying to communicate) and people still get the reference.    I don’t think I have ever played Mad Libs, but I bet I would enjoy it because it is built around phrasal templating (is that a word?).    Here are some I like (and yes, I actually threw all of these into this image via www.picnik.com).

Give me some for my collection.

Oops..I see one of them on there twice.