X is the Y of Z
“X is the Y of Z” is a snowclone–an adaptable, Mad Libs-like idiom like “May I compare thee to an X?”, “X is the new Y,” and “I for one welcome our new X overlords.” This snowclone touches on every subject imaginable, including music. So without further adieu, today’s topic is…
Celine Dion
One of my favorite lines in the South Park movie was, “When Canada is dead and gone, there’ll be no more Celine Dion.”
Rest assured, I have nothing against Canada, and I know almost nothing about Celine Dion, but I know this: my mom has a creepy, humongous book of pictures of Celine Dion with babies. That’s just wrong, folks. It’s wronger than wrong. It’s so wrong, in fact, that nuking Canada is an option that we, as a people, cannot take off the table. Maybe that would show Iran and the bad Korea and the Romulan empire who’s boss!
After all, we wouldn’t want to be known as the Celine Dion of superpowers. Or would we? Read on and decide.
“He is the Celine Dion of baseball.”
(May 19, 2009, Orioles Hangout Community)
“If MMOGs were recording artists, Runes of Magic would be a reality TV singing sensation. It has shown undeniable talent and has chosen mostly the right songs to make enough of a winning impression to attract a good few fans, but it’s still to find its own voice. For some uncertain while yet it will have to shake off the comparisons with more successful singing stars – World of Warcraft for instance, the Celine Dion of online gaming.”
(April 20, 2009, GamerZines)
“Key to her endearment is Taya’s open dorkiness. Almost as soon as I met her, she told me that she talks “incessantly,” and then proceeded to do so. To me, she’s something like the Celine Dion of the burlesque feature entertainer world. She’s wacky and warm-hearted and effusive and sentimental you understand why she drives people crazy, but if you can get past that, she seems pretty amazing.”
(April 20, 2009, Rich Juzwiak, VH1 Blog)
“It’s the third evening of Rock the Bayou and the Celine Dion of metal guitar, Yngwie Malmsteen, is on stage, ripping things up on a buttercream yellow guitar that he keeps throwing around. Now he’s, like, stabbing the crowd with it.”
(Sept. 1, 2008, Sleaze Roxx)
“For someone who has been in the industry for so long, I was blown away by how generously and gently she shared her wealth of knowledge. She was a fabulously encouraging teacher and very down to earth. We are talking about the Celine Dion of flowers here, and she was all about motivating each designer to focus on and excel in her particular talent. It was a great day, and we hope the hard work and Hitomi inspiration shows in our designs!”
(March 14, 2008, Modern Day Floral Blog)
“The Celine Dion of the switchboard world.
I think I need to insure my voice/throat. I’m awake at 335am because my throat is killing me (although I feel otherwise fine) and drinking hot tea (very out of character!) in an attempt to rehab my throat in time for what promises to be a very busy 30 or so hours of work over the next 3 days.”
(Feb. 6, 2008, Fashionable People Doing Questionable Things)
“Genius. You are like the Celine Dion of Christmas lyrics.”
(Dec. 12, 2007, The Gancer)
“Ricardo Larrivee is very optimistic about wedging himself into the crowded gourmet food market and sees himself as becoming ‘the Celine Dion of recipes’”
(June 18, 2005, Indieblogheaven)
“Patrick Côté has climbed the hill of ultimate fighting and has become one of the most promising rookie after having quickly won the canadian light-heavyweight champ title. Already famous in the US, FitnessMedias.com is proud to present you his new website. Let’s just say Pat is the Celine Dion of punches in the face.”
(May 25, 2005, Vinkomorf Magazine)
“I hate her. I absolutely hate her. She is one of those people that just gets on my nerves. She’s the… Well, she’s the Celine Dion of heaven. If she’d still be in the land of the living these days, she would be starring in one of those horrible, stuffy, religious TV series, you know what I mean?”
(Dec. 24, 2001, Above and Beyond)
Mark Peters is a language columnist and humorist who writes for Good, Visual Thesaurus and other mags, while maintaining too many blogs, including Wordlustitude, The Rosa Parks of Blogs, and The Pancake Proverbs.
