# Origin of "X must die" (snowclone) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 30, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-x-must-die-snowclone/696980 "2014-08-30T18:00:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-x-must-die-snowclone/696980/1 "2014-08-30T18:00:49Z")
Is this a reference to some historical quote? The earliest usage I found is [The King Must Die](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_Must_Die) from 1958. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-x-must-die-snowclone/696980/2 "2014-08-30T18:13:57Z")
Well, there’s _Carthago delendum est_ – “Carthage must be destroyed” – used by Cato in the Roman Senate. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-x-must-die-snowclone/696980/3 "2014-08-30T21:57:09Z")
H. T. Gibson, “They Must Die!” But They Didn’t - 1934 Nicholas Blake, The Beast Must Die - 1938 Kay Boyle, A Frenchman Must Die - 1946 Colin Robertson, Two Must Die - 1948 Richard Himmel, Two Deaths Must Die - 1954 ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-x-must-die-snowclone/696980/4 "2014-08-30T22:02:10Z")
Wow, thanks. Can we still point to a work that prompted the recent (since ~2000) surge in the use of that phrase? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-x-must-die-snowclone/696980/5 "2014-08-30T22:25:52Z")
Nothing stood out for me when searching book titles. Putting “must die” in [IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/find?q=must%20die&s=tt) yields hundreds of hits. [Romeo Must Die](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165929/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_2) was a fairly major movie and it came out in 2000. But there are so many earlier uses that it’s hard to pin down a turning point. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-x-must-die-snowclone/696980/6 "2014-08-30T22:52:05Z")
I attribute it’s resurgence to this movie masterpiece : [Surf Nazis Must Die](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094077/combined). It was certainly the first thing I thought of. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-x-must-die-snowclone/696980/7 "2014-08-31T01:21:05Z")
I can’t say I have noticed any particular “resurgence”. Have you any evidence that there has been one? Maybe it is just that you have started noticing it for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-x-must-die-snowclone/696980/8 "2014-08-31T06:08:37Z")
Yes, I’ll accept the Surf Nazis (1987) as the archetype of modern usage. Thanks again, everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-x-must-die-snowclone/696980/9 "2014-08-31T14:09:40Z")
Whenever I hear “X must die”, I always think of Edith Keeler.