Word of the Day

Someone once said that England and the United States were two countries separated by a common language. (Chizz thought it was Mark Twain but in doing some research, I found it was attributed to either George Bernard Shaw or Oscar Wilde.) Whoever said it, spoke the truth! Almost every day there is a phrase or word we hear that requires a run to the computer to translate. Reading the newspaper can usually provide one or two examples. It is very difficult to get through a story without at least “what does that mean” or “WTF” (that is usually Chizz). Why can’t the English speak American?? Well if we were living in France or Spain or some other country, we would most likely have to learn a phrase or two in the local language in order to assimilate. So in that vein, I am starting a feature in the blog called “Word of the Day”. Phrases, words, and jargon that we come across that might be different than in the United States. It will be educational and informative. However, what it won’t be is daily. I will just do an entry as I come across something worth noting.

So the first edition of Word of the Day will actually be a phrase. Yesterday in the paper there was an article about an exhibit of photos that Lord Snowdon had recently released. Lord Snowdon is the ex-husband of the late Princess Margaret, the Queen’s sister. These photos would also be for sale. One particular photo was causing a stir. It is a photo of Princess Margaret in a big bathtub wearing a tiara; apparently one she had worn on her wedding day. It was obvious that she didn’t have clothes on but you couldn’t see any of the other royal “jewels”. In the past the article said Lord Snowdon hadn’t released this photo because it wasn’t seemly to show royalty in its private moments. It was seemly to photograph those moments, just not to show the photos to anyone. Well evidently Lord Snowdon changed his mind and decided to include this photo for sale. That caused quite the stir. According to the article, Viscount Linley, Snowdon’s and Princess Margaret’s son, objected quite a bit to the photo being released. Apparently Linley has a somewhat strained relationship with his dad due to his 76-year-old dad’s over the top lifestyle and penchant for very young girl friends. Despite knowing that releasing this photo would greatly upset his son, Lord Snowdon did so anyway. The article said that this turn of events was just Lord Snowdon’s way of “cocking a snook” at his son. That is the word or phrase of the day, cocking a snook. What???

I went online to research what this meant and I come up with this passage from World Wide Words, an online English phrase book of sorts:

The truth is, we have no idea at all where this phrase comes from. The gesture of derision it encapsulates is that of putting one’s thumb to one’s nose and extending the fingers. Waggling them is optional but greatly improves the effectiveness of the insult. The gesture is widespread but names for it vary: cocking a snook is mainly the British name for what Americans sometimes describe as a five-fingered salute.

There you have it. A five-fingered salute. Not a very nice thing for a father to do to his son. My mother used to tell us when we were small and learning new words and vocabulary, when you use a word 5 times during the day it is yours for life. Now your goal - try using “cocking a snook” five times today. Go on, I dare you.