Timeline for Etymology and meaning of the word "snog"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
19 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jan 19, 2014 at 13:54 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| Jan 19, 2014 at 14:01 | |||||
| Dec 10, 2012 at 14:42 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | @Joshua: Top man. Now I see you're from US Midwest, it's worth mentioning that there are hundreds of minor changes in the US versions of Harry Potter books (jumper becomes sweater, trainers become sneakers, the US text has many more commas, etc.) So my guess is the publishers assume most US readers know what snogging is (or they'll pick it up from context). The activity can be quite risqué, but the word itself isn't really. I believe it's still fairly common among young people, particularly teenage girls, and older people for whom it's reminiscent of long-past sexual awakenings. | |
| Dec 10, 2012 at 14:05 | vote | accept | CommunityBot | ||
| Dec 10, 2012 at 14:05 | comment | added | user14070 | @FumbleFingers Done. I asked because I've heard it around, most recently in one of the Harry Potter movies. (Yes, I'm very late to the party.) | |
| Dec 9, 2012 at 4:01 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | ...but I don't know why you don't at least announce your nationality on your User Page. I'll feel pretty silly saying all this if it turns out you are British! | |
| Dec 9, 2012 at 3:59 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | @Joshua: I often mention my nationality because it may be relevant. In this case, I've just checked OED myself to discover that although (per Hugo's answer) they cite an early usage by one C. H. Ward-Jackson saying Comes from India, they clearly attach no credence to it (they say the origin is "unknown/obscure", but suggest links to old German/Dutch words). Whatever - I think it's a perfectly commonplace Briticism known to almost everyone. Apart from anything else, there're been a TV show called Snog, Marry, Avoid for years. | |
| Dec 9, 2012 at 2:37 | comment | added | user14070 | @FumbleFingers you being British matters to me, in that I was looking for some idea of the "common" usage of the word. | |
| Dec 8, 2012 at 17:54 | comment | added | Mitch | 'Snog' is onomatopoeic for the sound Brits make when kissing. | |
| Dec 8, 2012 at 13:30 | history | edited | RegDwigнt | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
edited tags; edited title
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| Dec 8, 2012 at 10:06 | answer | added | Hugo | timeline score: 0 | |
| Dec 8, 2012 at 7:02 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/#!/StackEnglish/status/277307024147095552 | ||
| Dec 8, 2012 at 5:00 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | @MετάEd: Of course. I didn't mean to imply kissing and snogging are exact synonyms (a closer one might be necking). But in general, I don't think many speakers who are accustomed to using and hearing the word necessarily expect it to include petting at all. I certainly wouldn't confuse heavy petting with snogging. So, like OP, I'm not keen on TheFreeDictionary's caressing, cuddling, fondling, hugging. Maybe that's American usage, I don't know. I thought the word was basically a Briticism anyway. | |
| Dec 8, 2012 at 4:33 | comment | added | MetaEd | @FumbleFingers Right. My belief is that "snogging" definitely is about kissing, but kissing specifically in a sensual way and with petting. It means both less and more than kissing. | |
| Dec 8, 2012 at 4:31 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | @MετάEd: Me personally, no! And I can't find any instances of "I snogged my brother/sister/father/mother/etc." in Google Books, so I guess the people who do that kind of thing maintain a discrete silence (or whatever you call it when you avoid writing, as opposed to saying something!" :) | |
| Dec 8, 2012 at 4:17 | answer | added | John Lawler | timeline score: 6 | |
| Dec 8, 2012 at 4:12 | comment | added | MetaEd | @FumbleFingers So would you say "I snogged my mother goodnight" or "I snogged my grandmother at Christmas"? | |
| Dec 8, 2012 at 3:25 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | Dunno if it's relevant that I'm a Brit, but I've never heard it used to mean anything other than kissing. But since fondling/feeling up will sometimes be going on at the same time, and might not be explicitly mentioned, I suppose it's possible to assume snogging covers all related activities short of full sex. I just don't happen to make that assumption, and I don't think most Brits do either. | |
| Dec 8, 2012 at 1:48 | answer | added | Robusto | timeline score: 3 | |
| Dec 8, 2012 at 1:40 | history | asked | user14070 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |