Snaffle -- Webster's Word of the Day today

[klenke]

Today "snaffle" was the Webster's Word of the Day. Maybe Beckey coined snafflehound himself way back in the 16th Century.

 

I'm still waiting for Webster's to feature "horsecock' for the Word of the Day.

 

snaffle\SNAFF-ul\

 

verb

 

: to obtain especially by devious or irregular means

 

Jacob snaffled up the last cookie, leaving his sister none.

 

"Started on Tyneside in the late 1930s, the chain has expanded by snaffling up other bakeries…." — From an article by Will Self in the New Statesman, December 13, 2010

 

"That snafflehound took off with my wind shirt and shorts over poly-pro last night in camp. That rat bastard." --Dru, aka G-spotter, August 30, 2010.

 

The origins of "snaffle" are shrouded in mystery. What we know of its story begins in the 16th century — at that time, "snaffle" existed as both a noun referring to a simple bit for a horse's bridle and a verb meaning "to fit or equip with a snaffle" or "to restrain or check with or as if with a snaffle." The noun could be from an old German word for mouth, "snavel," but the connection has not been confirmed. The "obtain" meaning of the verb appeared in the early 18th century, and its origins are similarly elusive. A 1699 dictionary entered "snaffle" with the definition "a Highwayman that has got Booty" — that's a logical derivative of the verb, but it is also unconfirmed.

 

 

[JasonG]

Now that is some interesting history. Does anyone know if Beckey really did add the "hound" part?

 

I have to admit that I really hate snaffles ....although I have to give them respect for their boldness and tenacity. Not to mention that I'm pretty sure they are possessed by demons. How else can they possibly survive on those God forsaken ridgetops unless they are sent by the devil himself?