What is a snob and a sheaf. What does snobbery mean in simple words? The History of the Origin of the Word Snob

The word "snobbery" is not often found in modern speech, but the phenomenon that it denotes can be found in any society. The snob considers himself superior to those around him because of his belonging to a special clan, collective. He believes that he is worthy of respect, although in fact the pride, arrogance and arrogance of a snob push people away from him and cause irritation.

Snobbery - what is it?

Reflecting on snobbery - what it is, one should turn to the etymology of this word. There are different versions regarding the origin of the word "snobbery", but they all boil down to the fact that some person put himself above others. In the vocabulary, this word was fixed in the 18-19 centuries, when they said that snobbery is the desire to belong to high society. Moreover, the snob was often from the simpler strata of the population, but in every possible way he tried to pass for a person from the highest circles.

Snobbery can be defined as ranking people around. Depending on the rank assigned to a person, the snob chooses the manner of communicating with him. His communication is selective: a dismissive manner with those who are lower in rank, and a fawning manner with those whose circle he wants to enter. This behavior can be combined with tactlessness and inadequacy in relation to other people.

Snobbery can develop in one of the areas or combine a complex:

• aesthetic snobbery;
• snobbery of wealthy people;
• professional snobbery.

Aesthetic snobbery - what is it?

By virtue of their profession, people of art are characterized by aesthetic snobbery. They consider themselves more intelligent, intelligent and educated than representatives of other professions. As a result, there is a special stratum of society whose snobbery is pronounced and combined with. The effect of snobbery is the cause of the birth of falsehood, arrogance and self-confidence.

Causes of snobbery

There are various reasons for the appearance of snobbery:

• a family in which everything was saturated with snobbery;
• provincial snobbery may grow out of a desire to escape from the "village" environment;
• collective influence at work;
• selfishness, behind which a person does not see the feelings and desires of other people;
• narrowness and rigidity of thinking, as a result of which the snob considers only certain behavior correct and important and;
• low self-esteem, which a person tries to compensate for by artificially raising his status and humiliating others.

Snobbery - signs

A snob is a person who considers himself exceptional and worthy of more respect than those around him, therefore the main features of a snob are:

• different attitudes towards people of different categories;
• feigned sophistication;
• confidence that only his point of view is the most correct;
• disregard for people who do not correspond to the ideas and intellectual level of a snob;
• identifying oneself with a special clan, an intellectual elite, the cream of society;
• insensitivity to other people's problems and experiences;
• heightened self-esteem.

Snobbery - good or bad?

Snobbery is an ambiguous concept, but sociologists still tend to attribute snobbery to a negative phenomenon in society. According to psychology, snobs are people with a predominant visual vector. They love to surround themselves with beautiful things and nice people. They subtly feel the beauty of nature, like to visit museums, read art books, go to theaters. They do not like uncultured behavior, rudeness, informal trends, low-grade art. This is the positive side of snobbery, but it leads to negative consequences.

Snobs identify themselves as a special, priority class in society. Considering themselves an elite, they can put everyone who does not correspond to their ideas into nothing. Other people for them are second-rate people, worthless and unworthy of attention. In addition, snobs are opponents of everything new, non-standard, non-traditional. They argue that only classical culture and generally accepted traditions are worthy of the attention of an educated person. Although they themselves do not always have real knowledge in the field of culture.

Snobbery and hypocrisy

Snob and hypocrite are two different concepts. They are confused with each other for the reason that both the first and the second consider themselves superior to others and look at others with disdain. Otherwise, these concepts differ. The snob sincerely believes that he is better than others, morally purer and more cultured. He seeks to communicate only with his own kind and tries to meet their standards.

Unlike the snob, the hypocrite does not have certain standards for himself. His demands concern other people whom he wants to teach life, makes remarks to them. A hypocrite is a two-faced person with double standards. He does not see his own mistakes, but he always notices the mistakes and sins of others. He teaches the people around him about life, trying to show himself and those around him his sinlessness, knowledge or high tastes.

Snob

Now they say this about a person who carefully imitates aristocratic manners, sophistication, arrogance, who claims to have an exquisitely refined taste, an exclusive range of occupations and interests. Snobs especially carefully follow the rules of high society and neglect everything that goes beyond these rules. From this arose the concept snobbery(c) "GREAT ENCYCLOPEDIC DICTIONARY".

Snobbery- the characteristic behavior, way of thinking, manners of an individual who claims to be elitism, consisting in admiration for everything first-class, from works of art to clothing, that should characterize an intelligent and educated worldly person - one of the few.

Snobbery lies precisely in the fact that the snob values ​​objects and phenomena not for their qualities, but only for the fact that these objects and phenomena are valued by representatives of the elite, to whom the snob wants to be involved. Snobbery differs from hypocrisy in that the snob, without being fully aware of himself, sincerely considers himself an intellectual, of which he is convinced by the manners and tastes of the snob.

Literature about snobs

see also

Notes

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

See what "Snob" is in other dictionaries:

Snob, eh... Russian word stress

snob- snob, but... Russian spelling dictionary

snob- snob / ... Morphemic spelling dictionary

- (English snob). A dandy, a braggart, a braggart. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. SNOB (English) fat, fop. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Pavlenkov F., 1907 ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

SNOB, snob, husband. (English snob) (book). A person whose behavior and tastes are determined by the desire to keep up with fashion and constantly adhere to the manners of the bourgeois aristocratic circle, high society. (The word has become widespread ... ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

SNOB, ah, husband. (book). A person who considers himself the bearer of the highest intelligence and exquisite tastes. | adj. snobbish, oh, oh. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

A; m. snob] 1. In Russia before 1917: about a person who tried to strictly follow tastes, manners, etc. high society and disdainful of everything else. 2. Disapproved. A person who considers himself the bearer of the highest intelligence ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Show off, proud man, poser Dictionary of Russian synonyms. snob n., number of synonyms: 4 show off (15) ... Synonym dictionary

- (English snob) a person who carefully follows the tastes, manners, etc. of high society and neglects everything that goes beyond his rules; a person who claims to have an exquisitely refined taste, an exclusive range of occupations and interests. Snobbery... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

M. 1. One who blindly imitates what is accepted in society. 2. One who claims to have exquisitely refined taste and manners, to a special, exclusive range of knowledge and interests. Explanatory Dictionary of Ephraim. T. F. Efremova. 2000... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language Efremova

snob- name of a human family, istota ... Spelling Dictionary of Ukrainian Movies

Books

• "Snob". Heroes. Top 30 Essays 2008-2011, . During the three years of the existence of the SNOB media project, politicians, musicians, artists, businessmen, historians, and philosophers have become its heroes. Someone's name has long been on everyone's lips, someone is SNOB first ...

It's not often you hear someone being called a snob these days. Rather, the term is used in the literature. Snobbery - what does it mean? Surely each of us has met a person who, as it were, boasts of his “not like everyone else” position. He is arrogant towards people who speak differently from him, read other books, listen to different music, etc. We call such a person a snob and feel some kind of falseness in his behavior, as if he put on a mask of an intellectual and an aristocrat . What are the main characteristics of such a person?

Snob Characteristics

Snobbery - what is this "beast"? The main category that the snob operates on is high society. Such a person simply dreams of being a part of him and does everything to get closer to such people. The snob imitates manners, habits, tastes, which, in his opinion, are inherent in the elite. Although such a person does not himself belong to representatives of high society, he treats “mere mortals” mercilessly.

The meaning of the word "snobbery" has a mostly negative connotation due to the arrogant attitude of a person towards those who are not like him. The lower class, according to the snob, does not intellectually reach his level. Here it is necessary to remember who was originally called that. The first meaning is literally "shoemaker's apprentice", then it expanded to "commoner". Further, the concept of "snob" became associated with a commoner who imitates aristocrats with his behavior. Thus, the term itself characterizes a snob as a person who wants to get closer to the upper community, who hates his origin and in every possible way despises any of its manifestations.

Psychological aspects of snobbery

Why is snobbery so remarkable? What is this phenomenon in modern world? Although this concept is not widely used in ordinary speech, the snobs themselves are quite common. They claim some kind of exclusivity in everything they do. But after all, there are people with the same interests and hobbies as a snob, but unlike the latter, they do not boast of their addictions. The fact is that snobbery is an ostentatious phenomenon. Such a person strives with all his might to show his exclusivity. He denies himself and tries to imitate some ideal. Deep dissatisfaction with one's position and even an inferiority complex become the causes of snobbery.

Snobbery - what is it in terms of benefit and harm?

At first glance, this phenomenon has only negative aspects. The snob exudes contempt for people who are different from him, while he himself is not something remarkable. However, the benefits and harms of snobbery in society cannot be judged one-sidedly. First, the phenomenon characterizes society as class-separated. This means that there is a gap between the so-called upper and lower society. After all, snobbery is nothing but a sophisticated form of envy. Secondly, snobs (whatever the motives underlying their behavior) strive for the manifestation of intelligence and aristocracy. And this supports to some extent the cultural level of society.

Snob(English) snob) - a person who admires high society and carefully imitates its manners and tastes, looking for an opportunity to get into such a society. It is also called a person who claims to be highly intelligent, refined taste or authority in some area, and at the same time arrogantly related to those who, in his opinion, are deprived of these virtues. The word has entered many languages ​​of the world. From him came the concept snobbery, meaning the way of thinking and behavior characteristic of a snob.

Table of contents [Show]

Origin

The exact origin of the word is unknown, there are several versions. For the first time the word is found in 1775-1785 as a designation of a shoemaker or an apprentice shoemaker. According to one version, this word later came to mean a commoner in a broad sense, and even later a commoner imitating the manners of an aristocrat. According to another version, it is assumed that the word is older and comes from the Latin abbreviation "s. nob."(from lat. sine nobilitate- ignoble origin). Folk etymology puts forward several more versions of the origin of this word. One of them is that “snob” is a slang term for students at Eton University in the early 19th century, where “nobs” (students of noble birth, probably from the word English. noble- nobleman) were opposed to "snobs" (ignoble).

Snobs in Literature

• "". William Thackeray.
• "Razor's Edge". Somerset Maugham. One of the storylines of this work, the author spun around the character of Elliot Templeton, who "lived like a snob and died like a snob."

“They suspected him of being a snob. And not without reason. Of course he was a snob and was not even ashamed of it. He was ready to endure any, endure any ridicule, swallow any rudeness, just to get an invitation to a party where he longed to go, or to be introduced to some grumpy old aristocrat. He was tireless." Somerset Maugham. "Razor's Edge".

• "". Arthur Koestler.
• "Mrs Dalloway". Virginia Woolf.

see also

• Nouveau riche
• Parvenu
• bigotry
• Arrogance
• Philistinism
• Hypocrisy

Notes

The word "snobbery" is not often found in modern speech, but the phenomenon that it denotes can be found in any society. The snob considers himself superior to those around him because of his belonging to a special clan, collective. He believes that he is worthy of respect, although in fact the pride, arrogance and arrogance of a snob push people away from him and cause irritation.

Snobbery - what is it?

Reflecting on snobbery - what it is, one should turn to the etymology of this word. There are different versions regarding the origin of the word "snobbery", but they all boil down to the fact that some person put himself above others. In the vocabulary, this word was fixed in the 18-19 centuries, when they said that snobbery is the desire to belong to high society. Moreover, the snob was often from the simpler strata of the population, but in every possible way he tried to pass for a person from the highest circles. Snobbery can be defined as ranking people around. Depending on the rank assigned to a person, the snob chooses the manner of communicating with him. His communication is selective: a dismissive manner with those who are lower in rank, and a fawning manner with those whose circle he wants to enter. This behavior can be combined with tactlessness and inadequacy in relation to other people. Snobbery can develop in one of the areas or combine a complex:

• aesthetic snobbery;
• intellectual snobbery;
• snobbery of wealthy people;
• professional snobbery.

Aesthetic snobbery - what is it?

By virtue of their profession, people of art are characterized by aesthetic snobbery. They consider themselves more intelligent, intelligent and educated than representatives of other professions. As a result, there is a special stratum of society whose snobbery is pronounced and combined with star disease. The effect of snobbery is the cause of the birth of falsehood, arrogance and self-confidence.

Causes of snobbery

There are various reasons for the appearance of snobbery:

• a family in which everything was saturated with snobbery;
• provincial snobbery may grow out of a desire to escape from the "village" environment;
• collective influence at work;
• selfishness, behind which a person does not see the feelings and desires of other people;
• narrowness and rigidity of thinking, as a result of which the snob considers only certain behavior and character traits to be correct and important;
• low self-esteem, which a person tries to compensate for by artificially raising his status and humiliating others.

Snobbery - signs

A snob is a person who considers himself exceptional and worthy of more respect than those around him, therefore the main features of a snob are:

• different attitudes towards people of different categories;
• feigned sophistication;
• confidence that only his point of view is the most correct;
• disregard for people who do not correspond to the ideas and intellectual level of a snob;
• identifying oneself with a special clan, an intellectual elite, the cream of society;
• insensitivity to other people's problems and experiences;
• heightened self-esteem.

Snobbery - good or bad?

Snobbery is an ambiguous concept, but sociologists still tend to attribute snobbery to a negative phenomenon in society. According to psychology, snobs are people with a predominant visual vector. They love to surround themselves with beautiful things and nice people. They subtly feel the beauty of nature, like to visit museums, read art books, go to theaters. They do not like uncultured behavior, rudeness, informal trends, low-grade art. This is the positive side of snobbery, but it leads to negative consequences. Snobs identify themselves as a special, priority class in society. Considering themselves an elite, they can put everyone who does not correspond to their ideas into nothing. Other people for them are second-rate people, worthless and unworthy of attention. In addition, snobs are opponents of everything new, non-standard, non-traditional. They argue that only classical culture and generally accepted traditions are worthy of the attention of an educated person. Although they themselves do not always have real knowledge in the field of culture.

Snobbery and hypocrisy

Snob and hypocrite are two different concepts. They are confused with each other for the reason that both the first and the second consider themselves superior to others and look at others with disdain. Otherwise, these concepts differ. The snob sincerely believes that he is better than others, morally purer and more cultured. He seeks to communicate only with his own kind and tries to meet their standards. Unlike the snob, the hypocrite does not have certain standards for himself. His demands concern other people whom he wants to teach life, makes remarks to them. A hypocrite is a two-faced person with double standards. He does not see his own mistakes, but he always notices the mistakes and sins of others. He teaches the people around him about life, trying to show himself and those around him his sinlessness, knowledge or high tastes.

The concepts of "snob" and "snobbery" are so ambiguous and multifaceted that it is almost impossible to define them in one phrase. All articles in the media that try to explain what it is, most often give specific examples of this phenomenon. Famous interpreters of words (Ushakov, Ozhegov, and others) interpret these concepts in different ways, although they distinguish their general meaning. The bulk of people, more or less literate, feel this concept rather subconsciously, not being able to express it verbally. Explaining the meaning of the words "snob" and "snobbery", they usually laugh it off: "I, like a dog, understand everything, but I cannot say."

So, who are these snobs? According to most opinions, this word literally translates as "not a nobleman" - this is exactly the mark put on the students of Eton University, who were of non-noble origin. The natural desire to be the same as the rest of the students prompted them to imitate the manners and behavior of aristocrats, which did not always work out naturally for them and caused a smile or malicious irony of those around them.

Now this is how they call people who, by their behavior, strive to show belonging to high society: hence the definition of snobbery appeared as mannerisms, antics, arrogance, imitation of the elite. Behind this desire to "crawl" into the caste of the elect, only external imitation, the desire to have exactly the same as that of "them" peeps through. In fact, the behavior of snobs is akin to children's imitation of adults. A girl trying on her mother's shoes and wearing her mother's makeup looks no more ridiculous than a nouveau riche who chooses a car not for reasons of convenience, but the prestige of the model, or the newly appeared author of the hit "about love", easily rhyming "in a row" - "so", " watch ”-“ no ”, but in an interview he said that he loves Pushkin and LIES his book under his pillow at night.

The snob necessarily follows the unwritten rules of the society to which he aspires, arrogantly treating those who, in his opinion, do not belong to this circle, denying the manner of behavior, tastes and interests if they are not popular in "his" society. He appreciates things and phenomena not for their convenience or qualities, but for how popular they are in the environment to which he so strives. At the same time, the snob may not even be aware of their true value (or pricelessness).

Snobbery as a manner of behavior can be divided into several categories.

The first, and most "useful": snobbery in the profession. More professional and experienced specialists treat the more inexperienced condescendingly, with some arrogance. The advantage of such an attitude towards the “unworthy” is that the latter, striving to rise to the “worthy”, increase their professional level, which, in general, contributes to the development of society as a whole. From an ethical point of view, this category also causes rejection by others, but it is at least justified by a higher position, which was obtained solely due to its intellect and hard work. Although, a real professional is, first of all, an intellectual, and it would never occur to him to boast of his knowledge. For him, professionalism in work is a phenomenon so natural that he simply takes it for granted, therefore, noticing the unprofessionalism of others, he simply tries to help them raise their level either with smart advice or gently pointing out mistakes. Another thing is how beginners will react to this - after all, there are those who perceive any remark as a personal insult.

Intellectual snobbery is essentially the same professional snobbery, but it belongs to the sphere, for the most part, non-labor. This is a "fashion" for writers, music, cinema, etc. The most famous example is to consider only the classics as literature, and detective stories, science fiction, women's novels, etc. as "second-class" literature. Let me recall M. Bulgakov, who, in the words of a literary hero, argued that fish can have only one degree of freshness - the first. It is the same with literature: either it is literature or not, and it makes absolutely no difference what genre it is written in. In fact, Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" is the same "women's novel", and Pushkin's "Dubrovsky" is a detective story, but who will say that this is not literature? Snobs - intellectuals value not the work of art itself, as such, but the name that created it, most often not representing its real artistic value.

Guests of Moscow, St. Petersburg and other large cities are familiar with snobbery by origin when they encounter their indigenous population. The “true” Petersburgers have developed not only a special arrogance towards everyone else - they even developed their own, unique language, different from other dialects of the Russian language. However, here it is worth noting that real Petersburgers and Muscovites gladly accept worthy people into their circle, realizing that this is the only way they will preserve and renew their “indigenous” blood.

At present, snobs by origin are not so common, but their small number is more than made up for by snobs by position and material wealth, in other words, the elite, the cream of society. Who and when “brought down” this cream from the “milk mass” of the population is now difficult to establish, but this is the most common category, if we mean another kind of snobbery by it - following the mass taste, the taste of the crowd, in other words, snobbery as stereotype of mass taste.

So, all of a sudden, Labradors, sambo and judo wrestling, and alpine skiing became very popular. For some time now, Courchevel has suddenly become very popular, and cheap gloss like Cosmopolitan has become an indicator of belonging to the "high society". Everyone can give their own examples. It is a pity that this snobbery pushes people to blind worship, and not always the best - just fashionable at the present time. "Brand ideals" at different times, of course, change, but who sets them - again, is unknown. And why, for example, today's Murakami is better than Remarque, but of the fifties or Nietzsche of the 2000s, for posterity, for sure, will remain a mystery.

Show business snobs can probably be attributed to the same category. Fashion hits, fashion performers ... At one time, girls died from “Tender May” and “Nancy”, today only former fans remember them, but until recently, Roots were on the crest of fame, not much different from them, or Chelsea ". In general, it is difficult for a person who is far from “pop music” to catch the difference between numerous groups and individual performers, similar to each other, like twins, born and dying in huge numbers, like one-day butterflies. But show business snobs somehow distinguish them, and even argue about their "coolness" and relevance! However, one should not conclude that the author of the article does not recognize young talents in general - this article is only about snobs and snobbery.

The article about snobs and snobbery could be continued almost indefinitely, remembering, for example, snobs from the nobility, real or imaginary, national chauvinism and much more, but the essence of the phenomenon, apparently, has become clear to many. A snob is a person who wants to classify himself as a desirable part of society, but at the same time uses only external, blind imitation of the behavior of this part. Snobbery is a phenomenon that describes the behavior of snobs.

Many people assume that a snob is an arrogant person who finds himself superior to others for some reason, takes pride in it, and blatantly demonstrates his superiority. Other people usually find his demeanor repulsive, as it is unpleasant for them to see an obvious and unreasonable underestimation of their own material, intellectual, cultural or other level. The main personal quality of a snob can be called pride and pride, directed towards vanity.

Who is a snob?

A snob is a person prone to narcissism, possessing delusions of grandeur and worshiping what, in his opinion, belongs to the high and prestigious. It is characteristic of him to exaggerate the significance of some things.

The snob very carefully observes the style rules of the circle of people to which he wants to relate. At the same time, he sincerely believes that he most subtly and correctly understands all the requirements of characteristic fashion. Snob behaviors boil down to admiration for what the elite values. But objects or works of art are recognized not because of their true value, but because their properties are understood by representatives of the upper class, who need to be like.

The snob feels the need to enjoy his own importance. But this is impossible alone, as he feels the need to stand out from others. In addition, weak-minded people are not able to be alone with themselves for a long time.

What is characteristic of a snob personality?

It is common for a snob to end a relationship with a person who does not act according to the inflated standards he requires. At the same time, if a representative of a high class, to whom the proud person also wants to relate, also makes a similar mistake, then this goes unnoticed. That is, a snob breaks off relations with a good and smart person if he buys products in the market, and not in an elite supermarket. But at the same time, if a famous person whom the proud man imitates does the same, then the hypocrite confirms the correctness of his choice. It is common for a snob to exaggerate the importance of the system of division into classes in society.

Other people are usually not even going to compete with him or prove their superiority, and until he appears, they don’t even know that something is wrong with them. The snob experiences an intuitive desire to develop a flawed feeling in acquaintances and relatives and rise at their expense.

How does a snob choose his circle of acquaintances?

At the same time, it cannot be said that the snob is dishonest in his actions, since he actually considers himself better than others. This person believes that his knowledge is special, his manners are refined, his taste is refined, or his origin is more noble than other people. The snob does not maintain relationships with acquaintances who do not "hold out" to his level, and if such people accidentally fall into his environment, he cuts off all contacts with them.

It is very important for a snob to be superior to other people in some way, so such a person can first pay attention to what the majority does not have and draw his own conclusions about their failure. After that, he deliberately demonstrates his superiority, creating in the minds of acquaintances the illusion of the need to possess the same that he has. Due to the lack of such a criterion in people, the snob behind the scenes indicates (by gestures, facial expressions, actions) their low status. The snob's manner of communication is to look past the interlocutor, filtering words through his teeth.

What is a snob proud of?

Talent, a large amount of money, connections with high-ranking people, and so on can act as a subject of pride. There are also reverse cases, when the snob clearly demonstrates his superiority in the ability to possess something less than his acquaintances, or simply different. By and large, the snob is absolutely indifferent to what the advantage is. His manner of communication is to present his views and property as the most correct in any situation.

Many examples can be given:

1. A laptop is better than a desktop computer.
2. An outdated and simple phone model is preferable to a new and cutting-edge one.
3. A house outside the city is better than an apartment in an elite central area (it happens vice versa).
4. More modern technology Better than the one that was bought even a year ago.
5. Antique items are valued above any other.
6. A small car is better than a big one because it is more manoeuvrable.
7. An expensive large car is better than a small one, as it is more prestigious, and so on.

Varieties of snobs

Many people know the preference for high-quality branded items over ordinary consumer goods. But it is not always possible or even a desire to purchase, for example, a leather belt of a prestigious and best brand. A reasonable decision is to buy a medium-level brand product of the same functionality, which is made by a person who is adequate in his actions. And society fully accepts his choice.

But there is a certain type of people who literally worship brands. Usually these individuals have a considerable inferiority complex. They believe that even an ordinary, even low-quality thing with a label will be bought than a completely natural and decent thing, but without it. Such people increase their own importance in their own eyes, acquiring more and more luxury brand products.

There is also snobbery, based on an unshakable belief in superiority in mental qualities or external attractiveness. It happens that this happens on a religious level, as adherents of the correct religion go to Paradise, and everyone else goes to Hell. Or the feeling of superiority arises in relation to people with dark skin color or to the inhabitants of third world countries. Such a person and society do not belong to harmonious relationship, because the person experiences an internal protest before his origin.

Snobbery in art is manifested in the assertion that a person from the outside is not capable of evaluating a real work. As if this is common sense, but in fact a real creator creates something at the behest of the inner voice. And a connoisseur or an intelligent person who is interested in art can see something for himself in a work, feel it, without having any specific knowledge.

History of occurrence

The concept of "snob" originated in England and meant a person of the profession "small shoemaker". Then this word began to be called individuals who want to join high society and rub themselves into the environment of aristocrats. At that time, the hypocrite did not have the appropriate taste in clothes, which was very noticeable. But gradually this quality disappeared, as a modern snob is a person who looks fashionable and stylish.

The type of "English snob" appeared in Great Britain in the Victorian era as a result of the emergence of a commercial aristocracy - a new social class. Its representatives are characterized not by noble origin, but by significance in the political and economic spheres. At that time, aristocrats and landowners had significant influence, but the new class was striving in every possible way to acquire the appropriate status.

A snob is just an upstart?

One cannot call a snob an ordinary upstart simply because he takes great care to keep secret all information about his lowly origin. Moreover, only a snob can think so, since all his acquaintances do not at all believe that any problem requiring concealment is connected with their social status.

This is also evidenced by his belief in his uniqueness and conviction in the right to occupy a high position. But famous people by and large, they do not interest him as a person, since he only needs from them belonging to a high class.

For example, a careerist may try to communicate with rich and successful people in order to learn from them their knowledge and experience, to establish relationships that may contribute to career advancement, to make new acquaintances. But the snob believes that he already relates to noble people, so he should communicate only with them. It is as if he plays a role in the theater, creating scenery for himself.

Snob-intellectual, cultural and musical pride

There is such a variety as the snobbish intellectual, which appeared in the 20th century. This is true of contemporary British society as well. Such snobbery is based on special mental abilities, wonderful refined taste. A person who understands wine (considers himself to be such) is considered as a kind of intellectual snobbery. He believes that his knowledge and taste are special.

There is also a cultural snob. This is a person who understands culture, literature, art, has an encyclopedic mind, visits art galleries.

A musical snob is a proud person who is deeply passionate about music and knows a lot about it. He buys CDs in large quantities, attends concerts, follows the latest trends, understands musical trends, is always aware of the release of new albums and looks forward to them. Such a person is the most harmless of all kinds of snobs. His interlocutors for many hours of conversations about reviews, compositions and other things are mostly on the Internet. In fact, it cannot be said that a snob is a fully intelligent person, since he only creates the appearance of such.

Fashionable, office and snob-bourgeois

There are snobs who have significant material wealth, allowing them to acquire things that are not available to many. Buy exclusive goods only for the prestige of owning them snob-bourgeois.

A fashionable snob is a person who is interested in fashionable and expensive clothes of famous brands. Such people disapprove of the owners of simple and inexpensive things.

A person holding intermediate management positions (deputy chief, head of department) can be defined as an office snob. The meaning of this concept is in admiration for leadership and an arrogant attitude towards subordinate colleagues.

The British themselves are considered an arrogant nation, so they are often accused of snobbery due to excessive self-confidence. For modern British society, the manifestation of snobbery in any social class in relation to representatives of the lower class is characteristic.