Snob
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Snob is a pejorative term for a person who feels is superior due to their social class, education level, or social status in general;[1] sometimes used specially when they pretend to belong to these classes. The word snobbery came into use for the first time in England during the 1820s.
Examples
Snobs can through time be found ingratiating themselves with a range of prominent groups — soldiers (Sparta, 400 BCE), bishops (Rome, 1500), poets (Weimar, 1815) — for the primary interests of snobs is distinction, and as its definition changes, so, naturally and immediately, will the objects of the snob's admiration.[1]
Snobbery existed also in mediaeval feudal
And French she spoke full fair and fetisly
After the school of Stratford atte Bowe,
For French of Paris was to her unknowe.
William Rothwell notes "the simplistic contrast between the 'pure' French of Paris and her 'defective' French of Stratford atte Bowe that would invite disparagement".[2]
Snobbery surfaced more strongly as the structure of the society changed, and the bourgeoisie had the possibility to imitate aristocracy.[citation needed] Snobbery appears when elements of culture are perceived as belonging to an aristocracy or elite, and some people (the snobs) feel that the mere adoption of the fashion and tastes of the elite or aristocracy is sufficient to include someone in the elites, upper classes or aristocracy.[citation needed]
Snob victim
The term "snob" is often misused when describing a "gold-tap owner",[1] i.e. a person who insists on displaying (sometimes non-existent) wealth through conspicuous consumption of luxury goods such as clothes, jewelry, cars etc. Displaying awards or talents in a rude manner, boasting, is a form of snobbery. A popular example of a "snob victim" is the television character Hyacinth Bucket of the BBC comedy series Keeping Up Appearances.
Analysis
Snobbery is a defensive expression of
Snobbatives
- khupím is a snobbative of khofím (חופים), which means "beaches";
- tsorfát is a snobbative of tsarfát (צרפת), which refers to "France";
- amán is a snobbative of omán (אמן), which means "artist".[7]: 184
A non-hypercorrect example in Israeli Hebrew is filozófya, a snobbative of filosófya (פילוסופיה), which means "philosophy".[7]: 184 The snobbative filozófya (with z) was inspired by the pronunciation of the Israeli Hebrew word פילוסופיה by German Jewish professors of philosophy, whose speech was characterized by intervocalic voicing of the s as in their German mother tongue.[7]: 190
See also
- Arrogance
- Assertiveness
- Boasting, something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind
- Confidence
- Chronological snobbery
- Classism
- Contempt
- Discrimination
- Egotism
- Elitism
- Emotional insecurity
- Entitlement
- Envy
- Four Yorkshiremen sketch
- Greed
- Inferiority complex
- Jealousy
- Narcissism
- Prejudice
- Prestige
- Pride
- Privilege
- Prima donna
- Queen bee
- Respectability
- Social climber
- Spoiled child
- Superiority
- Superiority complex
- Supremacy
- The Book of Snobs
- The Snob (1924 film)
- Vanity
References
- ^ a b c De Botton, A. (2004), Status Anxiety. London: Hamish Hamilton
- ^ Rothwell, "Stratford Atte Bowe re-visited" The Chaucer Review, 2001.
- G.M. Trevelyanreferred to the deferential principle in British society as "beneficent snobbery", according to Ray 1955:24.
- ^ Hazlitt, Conversations with Northcote, quoted in Gordon N. Ray, "Thackeray's 'Book of Snobs'", Nineteenth-Century Fiction 10.1 (June 1955:22-33) p. 25; Ray examines the context of snobbery in contemporaneous society.
- ^ Bulwer-Lytton, England and the English, noted in Ray 1955:24.
- ^ See: Ray 1955:25f.
- ^ ISBN 9781403938695
External links
- Joseph Epstein, "In a snob-free zone": "Is there a place where one is outside all snobbish concerns—neither wanting to get in anywhere, nor needing to keep anyone else out?"