snook (2009-10-14)

Part of Speech: noun

Pronunciation: ['snook]

Definition: 1) A gesture of defiance and/or derision. 2) Any of several kinds of salt-water fish of family Centropomidae, such as the sergeant-fish and the robalo.

Usage: Covert snooks are a recurring problem in the classroom and schoolyard. If you're on the receiving end of such a gesture, you might care to report to the teacher that "Morton just cocked a snook," and see what happens next. As we grow up, we find new ways to be defiant: "Ada's rendition of 'I'm still standing' at the karaoke evening was a transparent snook aimed at the management cabal trying to force her resignation."

Suggested Usage: The two uses of this word seem to be unrelated, and definition 2 has little scope for employment beyond its literal meaning – we'll therefore concentrate on definition 1. The original "snook", so called since the eighteenth century, was the gesture of raising one hand to your face, thumbing your nose, and wiggling your extended fingers in the direction of the person you wished to defy or deride. This action was described as "cocking a snook", a phrase that is still in metaphorical use in the UK. "Snook" has since taken on more general application to all literal and figurative gestures of defiant derision.

Etymology: No-one knows where the gesture got its name. There's a possibility that "snook" may have been the origin of "snooker," British military slang for a newly joined cadet (who might have been cheeky enough to cock a snook at a passing officer's back). The cadets, in turn, may have been the origin of the game of pocket billiards now called "snooker," but originally named "snooker's pool." But both connections are built more on plausibility than evidence.