Snarf

[Laurence Horn]

At 6:20 AM -0700 4/19/04, James Smith wrote:
>--- "Kathleen E. Miller" <mimillerkYNYTIMESOM> wrote:
>
>In my house, that's "to snort".  "You snort when you
>laugh."  (DeDerivative a small or less
>nonoticeablenort, a "snsnortlette) "Snarf" refers to
>eating quickly, usually greedily.  "He snarfed
>everything in sight."  "We snarfed some munchies."

But maybe "snarf" is a blend of "snort" and "scarf", i.e. 'to scarf
snortingly'.  Yup, idle speculation.

larry, wondering if the "sn-" onset in "snarf" brings in the nose,
given the well-attested, or at least oft-claimed, sound symbolism of
the cluster...

>
>>  Snarf to me has always been the sound your nose
>>  makes (occasionally and
>>  usually embarrassingly) in the midst of laughter.
>>  "You just snarfed!" was a
>>  common saying in the corridors of my high school and
>>  a snarf usually
>>  brought on more laughing, and more snarfing. [Sandra
>>  Bullock's character in
>>  Miss Congeniality does it often].
>>
>>
>>  Kathleen E. Miller
>>  They now call me "News Assistant, Columnist"
>>  The New York Times
>
>=====
>James D. SMITH                 |If history teaches anything
>South SLC, UT                  |it is that we will be sued
>jsmithjamessmith at yahoo.com     |whether we act quickly and decisively
>                                |or slowly and cautiously.
>
>
>
>
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