snowclones
“At last a suitable name has been proposed for the some-assembly-required adaptable cliché frames” http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000350.html
- If Eskimos have N words for snow, X surely have Y words for Z.
- In space, no one can hear you X.
- X is the new Y.
- Once a(n) X, always a(n) X
- semel X, semper X
- X un jour, X toujours
- einmal X, immer X
- One man's X is another man's Y
- What is this 'X' of which you speak?
- to X or not to X?
as seen in agoraphilia and the language log.