Snowclone nomination
There’s a seemingly random list of things down at the bottom of the sidebar there (or up, depending upon when you read this post). If you follow the one called “snowclones and eggcorns” it will take you to a specific page of Semantic Compositions, a site any linguistics geek readers probably already know. Snowclones are what H.W. Fowler would (and does) call “hackneyed phrases,” though of a specific type. In a nutshell (to use a hackneyed phrase), a snowclone is a phrase picked up by the media and overused ad nauseam. Think of the mother of all x’s… and you get the idea. If you want to know more about these things, specifically why they are called snowclones (hint: think Sapir-Whorff), get off your lazy mouse and click the damn link.
Oops, I just realized that that old link only gives you some examples of one particular (but excellent) eggcorn. The run-down on snowclones is somewhere else entirely.
To come to my point, today I was reading Slate and came across what will almost certainly not be turned into the latest snowclone, more’s the pity, because I really really like it, and even if the fourth estate will not adopt it in everyday use, I most certainly will. If you’ve been with us long enough to have read about buckwheat or the Isle of Wight, you know that the language spoken on the isogloss is a welcoming one, and new entries, if they meet certain criteria, are often considered. This one’s a keeper. See if you can spot my nomination for snowclone of the year in this text:
A frontpage [Los Angeles Times] piece says right before U.S. occupation officials turned over formal sovereignty to Iraq last year they began tossing out money left and right on reconstruction and in the process ignored financial controls and standards. “We were squandering the money we were entrusted to handle,” said one U.S. advisor. “We were a blind mouse with money.” (the entire story, if you must)
Did you see it? Don’t you think that any lack of fiscal restraint at any level should now be referred to this way?
Boy do they have ham upholstered to their eyes now!
Comment by Sarcastro — Saturday 21 May 05 @ 16.53 MDT+2.00