"Team Conan" and the "Team X" meme

[Benjamin Zimmer]

In my latest Word Routes column, I consider the rapid success of "Team
Conan" (in support of Conan O'Brien) and trace the development of the
"Team X" meme more generally.

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2124/

It's somewhat similar to "X Nation," discussed here a few years ago.
Both are examples of what Arnold Zwicky calls "snowclonelet
composites."

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2043


--Ben Zimmer

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