"What exactly," I hear you ask is 'a snip'
"Snip" here is a British slang term recorded from the 1920s meaning a bargain or something surprisingly cheap. "Snip" has had other - conflicting - figurative senses down the centuries, including a swindle or deception, a sure thing, an insignificant person, and an easy task.
I'm not entirely sure what its origins are, but I thought it was an interesting phrase which over here we use without really thinking about it. Is this a term you are familiar with? Have you any idea how it originated?
Yes, and you can snip with scissors. Like Pinocchio's nose maybe? Made of wood, it still appears snippable.
ReplyDeleteLove you Lyn!
Lol Mary!
ReplyDeleteNow Pinocchio's nose, there's a thought!
Thanks so much for dropping by!
Around here we use it completely differently. Snip can be a verb - like Mary's scissor thing, or when one horse bites at another, or it can be "snippy" as someone who likes to say nasty things about people.
ReplyDeleteThanks Alice, I knew the 'horsey' one, (and the thin line down the bottom half of a horse's nose is also known as a 'snip;) but I hadn't come across the 'snippy' as in someone saying nasty things about someone else, before. Isn't it interesting how English is used in different ways in other areas and even countries!
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