Slog Comments
Etymology of the Day: Snowpocalypse
1
These like one of those "everybody invented it" kind of deals. pocalypse isn't exactly an unusual template.
2
Brenden! You need to try to get yourself copies of the UK series, "Balderdash & Piffle". In it, various words around the same theme are looked up in the OED but then members of the public are invited to find even earlier occurances of each new word. With enough documentation, they get the OED to change its "first used in 19--" designation. Great show!
Here's an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2xyE-6sC…
Here's an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2xyE-6sC…
8
Oh damn, that was supposed to be '<whatever>pocalypse' up there. Guess that's what I get for not actually looking at the preview.
9
snOMG spread quick via twitter during last year's snowfall. Being of a more modern text-driven origin, I imagine it's birth would have to be even more recent (perhaps, even last winter?).
10
It probably was Tiffany. A lot of us RT and RP things our friends say.
SNOMG works better as a twitter tag - official abbrev is wasnow of course.
SNOMG works better as a twitter tag - official abbrev is wasnow of course.
11
Nathan Myrvold now owns the rights to Snowpocalypse.
Any further use will be subject to licensing fees.
Call Intellectual Ventures for a bulk discount.
Any further use will be subject to licensing fees.
Call Intellectual Ventures for a bulk discount.
14
@10, notice the deft way Will in Seattle shifts from something someone else has done, someone he has never met, into something done by "us", meaning himself. Because he has recently learned how to "RT" something, he can take credit for pretty much anything that happens, even if that thing happened before Twitter and RT even existed.
And, if it's a girl-sounding name he will make his patented move here for us all to see.
And, if it's a girl-sounding name he will make his patented move here for us all to see.
15
For those of us who didn't grow up in Seattle or southern California it's not the snowpocalypse or snowmageddon, but just snow big deal.
16
Wait, the New York Times cited Urban Dictionary? Seriously?
Urban Dictionary can be entertaining reading, but its credibility as an etymological reference is nil.
Urban Dictionary can be entertaining reading, but its credibility as an etymological reference is nil.
17
Actually Fnarf, I met Will at a Slog meet-up / drink-up a few years ago. We got drunk and argued about computers :)
18
Chefgirl is right -- "Balderdash and Piffle" is lots of fun. I helped antedate a phrase ("Jack the lad") for the OED during the Series 2 wordhunt and they thanked me on the OED website. I have to say, as a language geek, that's one of my proudest moments.
Snowpocalypse was certainly popularized during the 2008 storm, but as Ben said, "-pocalypse" is a pretty obvious suffix for this sort of thing.
Snowpocalypse was certainly popularized during the 2008 storm, but as Ben said, "-pocalypse" is a pretty obvious suffix for this sort of thing.
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