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Crash Blossoms (and other language tidbits)

Cheryl's Musings: Crash Blossoms (and other language tidbits)

Cheryl's Musings

How to Thrive on the Writer's Road

Monday

Crash Blossoms (and other language tidbits)

CONFUSION CAUSED BY CRASH BLOSSOMS

So reads the headline that reportedly birthed a new phrase for those moments when brevity interferes with meaning: crash blossoms. Here’s another example, drawn from Mark Peters’ article on the topic: McDonald's fries the holy grail for potato farmers (Laurence Horn (via Steve Anderson) on the American Dialect Society listserv).

I think that the Internet has sped up language development. For instance, ever hear of a snowclone? According to the Urban Dictionary, a snowclone is “A type of formula-based cliché that uses an old idiom in a new context. A common example: "X is the new Y", a generic form of the original expression "pink is the new black". In order to apply the snowclone, X and Y should be substituted with new words or phrases.”

So when I say “Scripts? We don’t need no stinking scripts!” I’m using a snowclone (although I might not know it at the time.) (Here’s a terrif article about snowclones, if you desire further distraction.)

Ah, words. Don’t you love ’em?

:) Cheryl

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