On Nov 7, 2010, at 3:24 PM, Andy Kelly wrote:

> I'd just come across the term for this sort of phrase recycling. A 
> *snowclone* [1] is a type of cliché and phrasal template [2] originally 
> defined as "a multi-use, customizable, instantly recognizable, time-worn, 
> quoted or misquoted phrase or sentence that can be used in an entirely open 
> array of different variants"... It's interesting City of God topped the 
> list...

Yes, the question, "How 'great' are the Great Books?" is definitely a play on 
words. But at the same time I really am trying to apply quantitative methods to 
qualitative values, and yes, this is an application in natural language 
processing. See "Measuring the Great Books". [3]

As of today the survey has been answered more than 3,000 times by more than 200 
people. (See the map. [4]) The City of God is no longer at the top but rather 
Don Quixote is #1 and City of God is #6.

[1] snowclone - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowclone
[2] template - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrasal_template
[3] measuring - http://bit.ly/cMBjEO
[4] map - http://bit.ly/9bYXRA

-- 
Eric "Shooting For 100,000 Answered Surveys" Morgan
University of Notre Dame

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