Concept in Definition ABC
Miscellanea / / November 13, 2021
By Javier Navarro, on Feb. 2016
The term snob is used in Spanish but comes from English, so it is an Anglicism like football, hobby, show, thriller, reality and many others.
In the language Commonly, someone is said to be a snob when he pretends to be something other than what he really is. The term snob is commonly used to refer to someone who imitates the style and aesthetics of wealthy people. In this sense, a snob is someone who is pretentious and pretends to be part of a social class but, deep down, he is someone vulgar who cannot hide who he is.
It is a word with a connotation clearly derogatory, since mentioning it indicates that someone does not have category enough and all he does is "dress up" with a dress and adopt a pose that is not in accordance with his social status of origin.
Snobbery and posture
As the language It is something alive, from the word snob another term has been created, snobbery. Someone practices snobbery when expressing his admiration by trends most innovative and avant-garde fashion but it does it in a forced way, that is, not because it really has interest in it but because it is fashionable and in this way acquires a greater
status Social. It could be said that snobbery is a variant of posturing (the word posturing is a new way of expressing interest in appearances). In any case, snobbery and posture are two strategies to gain prestige and social recognition.The etymology of the word snob
Scholars of the origin of words do not agree in their analysis when explaining the etymology of the word snob. In fact, there are several different versions:
The most widespread version maintains that snob is an abbreviation of Latin, specifically of the words sine nobilitas, that is, without nobility. The abbreviation snob began to be used in prestigious and elitist British universities, in which initially the people without nobility but in the nineteenth century those whose origin was not noble began to join the university and this fact was reflected in the books of record with the abbreviation snob. This circumstance created a difference between the students, since some had nobility due to their family origin and others did not.
Another version affirms that the term snob in English is related to the figure of the shoemaker's apprentice in ancient times, since that is how they were called young people practicing this profession in the English spoken in Scotland (the word snab was used and eventually became snob).
Photos: iStock - cyano66 / ilbusca
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