22 May 2015
snark(1)
[snahrk]
noun
1. a mysterious, imaginary animal.
Origin of snark (1)
1876; coined by Lewis Carroll in his poem The Hunting of the Snark
snark(2)
[snahrk] Slang.
verb (used without object)
1. to be critical in a rude or sarcastic way:
to snark about the neighbors.
noun
2. rude or sarcastic criticism.
Origin
1910-15; dial. snark ‘to nag, find fault with’; apparently identical with snark, snork ‘to snort, snore’, probably < Dutch, Low German snorken ‘to snore’
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for snark
– Bring your machete so you can hack your way through the snark.
(Michael Tomasky on Obama’s Hillary Clinton-Joe Biden Switcheroo Michael Tomasky May 21, 2012)
As he declared on National Public Radio: “People can’t live on snark and vicious gossip alone.”
(It’s Not too Late to End the Hate Joanne Lipman January 10, 2011)
But critiques and snark have no place, watching re-runs late at night.
(Thank You for Being a Friend: Why TV Re-runs Never Grow Old Tim Teeman May 9, 2014)
Word Origin and History for snark
n. imaginary animal, coined 1876 by Lewis Carroll in “The Hunting of the Snark.” In 1950s, name of a type of U.S. cruise missile and in 1980s of a type of sailboat. Meaning “caustic, opinionated, critical rhetoric” is from c.2002 (see snarky ) and not directly related, if at all.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
snark in Technology
[Lewis Carroll, via the Michigan Terminal System] 1. A system failure. When a user’s process bombed, the operator would get the message “Help, Help, Snark in MTS!”
2. More generally, any kind of unexplained or threatening event on a computer (especially if it might be a boojum). Often used to refer to an event or a log file entry that might indicate an attempted security violation. See snivitz.
3. UUCP name of snark.thyrsus.com, home site of the Hacker Jargon File versions 2.*.*.
[Jargon File ]
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
Anagram
ranks
Today’s quote
Labour in the white skin can never free itself as long as labour in the black skin is branded.
– Karl Marx
On this day
22 May – International Day of Biodiversity to celebration biological diversity.
22 May 1927 – A 7.9 magnitude earthquake hits the city of Xining in the Chinese province of Quinghai, killing up to 200,000 people. It is the 5th deadliest earthquake recorded.
22 May 1972 – Ceylon changes its name to Sri Lanka to break away from its colonial past. Ceylon had been the colonial name given by Great Britain to the island. The name itself was derived from Portuguese when part of the island was a colony of Portugal.
22 May 2010 – Jordan Romero, a 13 year old U.S. boy, becomes the youngest person to conquer Mt Everest.