Snuff

[Wendell W. Solomons]

Devin P Browne wrote:
>
> What exactly is snuff, as is often referenced in Gogol's "The Nose"?  I

>Snuff is a powdered stuff (tobacco) which you insert into your nose and
>it causes powerful "explosive" sneezes.  As far as I remember, it was
>considered not only fashinable but good for you (go figure!)...

Alex

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Greetings !

Habit-forming and perhaps carcenogenic, I find snuff still used
for its cathartic lift and because it cleans the sinuses.

BTW I find that on-disk dictionaries are a time-saver for word
definition. Oxford, Webster and several other dictionaries
have versions for hard-disk.

The second definition below from Webster seems broader simply
because tobacco habits originated in the Americas (to this day
'Spit Tobacco' is a term used in U.S. Drug Abuse and Health
Department national surveys.)

Rgds

~wendell

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snuff 2 
 — n. powdered tobacco or medicine taken by sniffing it up the nostrils.
 — v.intr. take snuff.

up to snuff colloq.

1 Brit. knowing; not easily deceived.
2 up to standard.

Etymology Du. snuf f. MDu. snuffen snuffl

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snuff2
n. a preparation of powdered tobacco that is inhaled by sniffing, chewed,
or rubbed on the gums
3 any powder taken by inhaling
4 smell; scent

up to snuff

1       [Colloq.] up to the usual standard, as in health, quality, etc.
2       [Brit. Colloq.] not easily cheated or deceived; alert

Etymology [< MDu snuffen < Gmc *snuf- < IE *sneup < base *sneu-: see snout

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