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The following is a list of snowclones, which is a type of formula-based cliché which uses an old idiom in a new context, roughly ordered by known year of original usage. Single capital letters (such as X or Y) indicate where new words are inserted in order to create variations on the original phrase. N signifies a number.

Origin dates unknown

  • If Eskimos have N words for snow, X surely have Y words for Z.http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000049.html
See Eskimo words for snow
  • X is the MIT of Y.
See MIT in popular culture.
  • X is like Y on Z.
Original Z: any number of recreational drugs.
  • Will X for Y.
Original X: "work"; Original Y: "food"; Traditional sign of panhandlers.
  • Sometimes a(n) X is just a(n) X.
Original X: "cigar"; attributed to Sigmund Freud but seems to have been made up or at best paraphrased.
  • X is my middle name.
Original X: "danger"
  • I X and I Y.
Original X: "fish". Y: "vote". From many political, unionist sayings.
  • Fight X with X.
Original X: "fire".
  • When X is outlawed, only outlaws have X.
Original X: "guns".
  • You can have my X, when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers. (occasionally "hand.")
Original X: "gun".
  • X is for Y.
Originally from children's ABC books (abecedary or primer), "A is for Apple," "B is for Ball," "C is for Cat," "D is for Dog," etc. An example would be "A Is for Ancient," which was a New York Times article title on November 9, 2005.

Known origins

Pre-17th century

  • The X that can be Y is not the true X.
Original X: “The Tao which can be spoken of is not the true Tao.” From the Tao Te Ching, (c. 600 BC)
  • X delenda est.
Original X: "Carthago"; commonly attributed to Cato the Elder. Latin for "Carthage must be destroyed." (c. 157 BC)
  • All X is divided into Y parts.
Original X: "Gaul"; original Y, "three". In Latin: Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres. . . Opening phrase from Julius Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War, (c. 50 BC).
  • Et tu, X?
Original X: Brute, Latin vocative case of Brutus. Allegedly the last words of Julius Caesar, d. March 15, 44 BC. Suetonius has Caesar say Kαι συ, τεκνον? (Greek: "And you, my son?") Popularized by Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, (c. 1599).

17th-19th century

  • To X, or not to X?
Original X: "be"; from Hamlet (c. 1600)
  • Shall I compare thee to X?
Original X: "a summer's day?". From William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18. (1609)
  • I X, therefore I am.
Original X: "think" from Discourse on Method by Descartes. This phrase is sometimes seen in the original Latin as "Cogito, ergo sum". (1637).
  • X is a dish best served Y.
Original X: "revenge", original Y: "cold". Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos originally said this in French in his (1782) book Les Liaisons dangereuses.
  • What is this X of which you speak?
Original X: "love". From Matthew Gregory Lewis's novel The Monk. (1794)
  • The only good X is a dead X.
Original X: "Indian" from a misquote of "The only good Indians I ever saw were dead" attributed to Philip Sheridan. Sheridan denied ever saying it. (c. 1870s)
  • Lies, damned lies, and X
Original X: "statistics"; a phrase popularized by Mark Twain. Original source disputed, but certainly originating in the 1800s. Earliest recorded use in 1885. See lies, damned lies, and statistics.
  • Yes, Virginia, there is a(n) X. (Sometimes "Yes, X, there is a(n) Y.")
Original X: "Santa Claus"; from the editorial by Francis Pharcellus Church in the New York Sun. (1897)

20th century

  • The X to end all Xes.
Original X: "war". Said of World War I.
  • The Care and Feeding of X
Original X: "Children"; from L. Emmett Holt's popular guide The Care and Feeding of Children (1921)
Original X: "Lobby Lud"; from a publicity stunt by the Westminster Gazette (1927, Chiefly British)
  • Brother, can you spare a(n) X?
Original X: dime, Depression Era song by Yip Harburg and Jay Gorney. (1931)
  • X for fun and profit.
Original X: "Collecting stamps" from a series of how-to books by Archie Fredrick Collins, beginning in 1936, which inspired similar titles like Make Your Own Movies for Fun and Profit and Cartooning for Fun and Profit (1930s)
  • Y is the greatest thing since X.
Original X: "sliced bread"; from reaction to Wonder Bread advertising campaign (1930s)
  • Is that an X in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
Original X: "gun"; Spoken by Mae West to Cary Grant in She Done Him Wrong (1933)
  • X and Y and Z, oh my!
Original X: "lions"; Y: "tigers"; Z:"bears", from the film The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  • W, I have a feeling we're not in X anymore.
Sometimes simplified to, "We're not in X anymore."
Original W: "Toto"; X: "Kansas"; from the film The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  • This is my X. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Original X: "rifle," from the United States Marine Corps Rifleman's Creed, popularized in the film Full Metal Jacket. (Original 1940s, popularized 1987)
  • Now, I am become X, destroyer of Y.
Original X: "Death"; original Y: "worlds". Quote by Robert Oppenheimer (1945), allegedly quoting the Hindu god, Shiva.
  • X? We don't need no stinkin' X.
Original X: "badges"; misquote from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre popularised by the film Blazing Saddles. (Original 1948, popularized 1974)
  • Will the real X please stand up?
Signature line from the TV game show To Tell the Truth, popularized by Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady" song (Original 1956, popularized 2000)
  • X has left the building.
Original X: "Elvis". Promoter Horace Lee Logan said, "Elvis has left the building," on December 15, 1956, in an attempt to calm an excited crowd at an Elvis Presley concert.
  • Have X, will Y.
Original X: "gun"; Y: "travel"; from title of old US TV western Have Gun — Will Travel (1957)
  • We cannot have a(n) X gap!
Original X: "mine shaft"; from the film How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), in reference to the Cold War missile gap (1959).
  • X is the new Y.
Original X: "pink"; original Y: "black"; commonly attributed to Gloria Vanderbilt, see: The new black (Original 1960s, popularized 1980s)
  • Dammit, Jim! I'm a(n) X, not a Y!
Original X: "doctor", original Y: "magician"; from a famous misquotation of a line from Star Trek. (c. 1966)
  • X is a Harsh Mistress.
Original X: "The Moon". From Robert Heinlein's novel The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. (1966)
  • If it's X this must be Y (or sometimes) If this is X this must be Y.
Original X: "Tuesday"; Original Y: Belgium; from If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1968)
  • They shoot Xes, don't they?
Original X: "horse", from the Jane Fonda movie They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
  • Will the last person to leave X please turn off the lights."
Original X: "Seattle"; a response to Boeing layoffs (1970)http://www.bostonreview.net/BR29.3/perlstein.html
  • X considered harmful.
Original X: "Go To Statement"; from title of a letter about computer programming languages by Edsger Dijkstra (1968, chiefly computer science)
  • Are you there, X? It's me, Y.
Original X: "God"; Original Y: "Margaret". Taken from title of Judy Blume's children's novel Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret (1970).
  • No X Please: We're Y.
Original: "No Sex Please, We're British", a stage play (1971) and film (1973).
  • (+N/-N) X of Ying; X of Yness
Original X: fantasy object such as a sword or ring; Y: fantasy task or quality such as "slaying" or "sharpness"; N: number indicating power of object. From Dungeons and Dragons, in which many magical items had names using this formula (1974)
  • These aren't the X you're looking for.
Original X: "droids"; from A New Hope (1977)
  • I love the smell of X in the morning.
Original X: "napalm"; from Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979)
  • In Soviet Russia, Y Xs you!
Original Y: "party"; Original X: "finds"". Loosely based on material used by comedian Yakov Smirnoff (c. 1980s).
  • We've secretly replaced X's Y with Z. Let's see if he notices! (c. 1980s)
Original X: "his"; Y "regular coffee"; Z "Folgers Crystals".
  • In X, no one can hear you Y.
Original X: "space"; Original Y: "scream"; from tagline for Alien (1982)
  • X 2: Electric Boogaloo
Original X: "Breakin'"; from movie title Electric Boogaloo (1984)
  • When someone asks if X, you say YES!
Original X: "you're a god"; from Ghostbusters (1984)
  • There is no X, only Y.
Original X: "Dana"; Original Y: "Zuul"; from Ghostbusters (1984)
  • I'm not an X, but I play one on TV.
Original X: "doctor," commercial for Vicks Formula 44 cough syrup.http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002550.html (1985)
  • X needs Y badly.
Original X: "Wizard," "Elf," "Warrior," or "Valkyrie"; original Y: "food"; from the arcade video game Gauntlet (1985)
  • Nobody summons X
Original X: "Megatron", from movie title The Movie (1986)
  • This is your X. This is your X on Y
Original X: brain; original Y:drugs. TV anti-drug campaign. See: This is Your Brain on Drugs (1987)
  • And this time, it's X.
Original X:"personal". Tagline of The Revenge (1987)
Original X: "Jack Kennedy" Original Y: Senator, said by Senator Lloyd Bentsen to Senator Dan Quayle during the 1988 vice-presidential debate. X is someone that the person being addressed is being compared to.Y is either a title or is left out. (1988)
  • I love my big gay X
Original X: "son"; misquoted "dead gay son," from Heathers (1989)
  • Mmm, X...
Original X: "marshmallows"; Signature phrase of Homer Simpson, first used in episode "There's No Disgrace Like Home" (1990)
  • The mother of all X
Original X: "battles"; translation of 'Uum al-M'aarak, the Iraqi name for the Gulf War (1990)
  • X is hard, let's go shopping.
Original X: "math"; from Teen Talk Barbie (1992)http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002892.html
  • All your X are belong to us.
Original X: "base"; from All your base Internet meme (Original 1992, popularized 2001)
  • Got X?
Original X: "milk"; from advertisements by the National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board (1993)
  • Tough on X, tough on the causes of X.
Original X: "crime", probably from a speech by Tony Blair to the Labour Party conference (1994).
  • I, for one, welcome our new X overlords.
Original X: "insect"; from The Simpsons episode "Deep Space Homer" (1994)
  • This is not your father's X
Original X: "Oldsmobile"; famous bellyflop in advertising (1995)
  • No X for you!
Original X: "Soup"; from Seinfeld episode "The Soup Nazi" (1995)
  • You had me at X.
Original X: "hello"; from Jerry Maguire (1996)
  • Oh my God, they killed X!
Original X: "Kenny"; Signature line from South Park (1997)
  • First Rule of X is, you do NOT talk about X.
Original X: "Fight Club"; from the book of the same name, but popularised by the film (1999)

21st century

  • X, M dollars. Y, N dollars. Z? Priceless.
Strapline from MasterCard advertising campaign (2000)
  • If we X then the terrorists have won.
Original X: "give in to fear, if we aren't able to do these simple and ordinary things"; from an October 15, 2001 open letter by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Frank Pierson. See: The terrorists have won (2001)
  • What happens X, stays X.
Original X: "here". Alternate X: "in Vegas". An ad campaign run by the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. (2003)http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/adtrack/2003-08-03-vegas_x.htm

See also

References

External links

Internet memes | Rhetoric | Pop-culture neologisms | Lists of phrases

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "List of snowclones".

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