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OP Frequently I look at the headlines and see phrases co-opted from old play titles, etc. Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh" seems to be the forerunner in this phenomenon, and his "Long Day's Journey Into Night" another. What seems to be happening here is that these titles have been so influential on the language that they have become parodied endlessy until these ghosts of phrase have taken on a life of their own, in parody, long after most people know the title which created the parodying (parodising?). Anyway, I was wondering if there is a name for this linguistic phenomenon (tsuwm? nuncle?)
And does anyone have any more titles (plays, books, films, songs) that have become staple parodies of phrase in the language?
A recent and simpler example would be the 80's country song "What Part Of No Don't You Understand." I've heard that endlessly with any number of words substituted for "no".
(BTW, [and of course] many of Shakespeare's titles have suffered the same fate)
Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted transmutational phraseology? WhitmanO'Neill 08/29/04 09:04 PM Re: transmutational phraseology? sjmaxq 08/29/04 09:11 PM Re: transmutational phraseology? amnow 08/30/04 09:22 PM Re: transmutational phraseology? WhitmanO'Neill 08/31/04 12:08 AM Re: transmutational phraseology? Buffalo Shrdlu 08/31/04 12:16 AM Re: transmutational phraseology? AnnaStrophic 08/31/04 10:49 AM Re: transmutational phraseology? WhitmanO'Neill 08/31/04 10:59 PM Re: transmutational phraseology? TEd Remington 08/31/04 04:35 PM biblionym? Owlbow 08/31/04 11:27 AM Re: biblionym? Jackie 08/31/04 12:18 PM Re: bong... Buffalo Shrdlu 08/31/04 12:55 PM 1st impressions grapho 09/05/04 12:26 PM Cover stories grapho 08/29/04 11:14 PM Paris Hilton TEd Remington 08/30/04 12:36 PM
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