snobbery

[coffee]

What is "snobbery" to you? When you think of "a snob," what do you imagine?

Does snobbery bother you? Does reverse-snobbery bother you?

In almost all aspects of life - music, art, food, literature, film, but not fashion or luxury travel - I have the tastes of a snob's snob. In fact I usually simply identify my own tastes with "what snobs are supposed to like." But I am a yet better snob than an ordinary snob's snob: I hate snobbery. When people have different tastes than mine, I politely respect their right to make their own judgments, confident in the unspoken, even unconscious knowledge that their taste is inferior to mine. But when people have the same tastes as me, but express scorn for people with different tastes, it twists me up in knots, because I am so much a snob that I don't want to be associated with such gauche people! Postmodern snobbery, the finest sort.

How do you - how should I - make peace with a world in which people incessantly try to portray themselves as superior to the rest of humanity? Is there a way to react to this aspect of human nature with anything other than rage and disgust?

 

[Karl Henning]

Your timing is extraordinary (unless you're at my shoulder, in which case, it's creepy):  I just lit on a book here on my shelf, which I had not thought about for (say) three years, and am thinking of starting to read it:

[asin]B003UV91CE[/asin]

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

Snobisme has a slightly different connotation in France, where in some quarters it carries a ring of distinction, although you might not get that from this Boris Vian song :

Je suis snob

J'suis snob... J'suis snob
C'est vraiment l'seul défaut que j'gobe
Ça demande des mois d'turbin
C'est une vie de galérien
Mais quand je sors avec Hildegarde
C'est toujours moi qu'on r'garde
J'suis snob... Foutrement snob
Tous mes amis le sont
On est snobs et c'est bon

Chemises d'organdi, chaussures de zébu
Cravate d'Italie et méchant complet vermoulu
Un rubis au doigt... de pied, pas çui-là
Les ongles tout noirs et un tres joli p'tit mouchoir
J'vais au cinéma voir des films suédois
Et j'entre au bistro pour boire du whisky à gogo
J'ai pas mal au foie, personne fait plus ça
J'ai un ulcère, c'est moins banal et plus cher

J'suis snob... J'suis snob
J'm'appelle Patrick, mais on dit Bob
Je fais du ch'val tous les matins
Car j'ador' l'odeur du crottin
Je ne fréquente que des baronnes
Aux noms comme des trombones
J'suis snob... Excessivement snob
Et quand j'parle d'amour
C'est tout nu dans la cour

On se réunit avec les amis
Tous les vendredis, pour faire des snobisme-parties
Il y a du coca, on deteste ça
Et du camembert qu'on mange à la petite cuiller
Mon appartement est vraiment charmant
J'me chauffe au diamant, on n'peut rien rêver d'plus fumant
J'avais la télé, mais ça m'ennuyait
Je l'ai r'tournée... d'l'aut' côté c'est passionnant

J'suis snob... J'suis snob
J'suis ravagé par ce microbe
J'ai des accidents en Jaguar
Je passe le mois d'août au plumard
C'est dans les p'tits détails comme ça
Que l'on est snob ou pas
J'suis snob... Encor plus snob que tout à l'heure
Et quand je serai mort
J'veux un suaire de chez Dior!

I'm a Snob

I'm a snob... I'm a snob
It's about the only fault I can stomach
It requires months of toil
It's the life of a galley-slave
But when I go out with Hildegarde
It's always me that they're looking at
I'm a snob... a frightful snob
All my friends are snobbish too
We're snobs and we know it

Organdie shirts, shoes made from zebu-hide
An Italian tie and a devilish moth-eaten suit
A ruby on the finger...of your foot, not that one!
Pitch-black nails and a pretty little handkerchief
I go to the cinema to watch Swedish films
And nip into the cafe to drink whisky galore
I don't have indigestion, nobody does that anymore
I've got an ulcer, it's less common and it's dearer

I'm a snob... I'm a snob
My name's Patrick, but they call me Bob
I go horse-riding every morning
Because I love the smell of fresh manure
I only keep company with baronesses
With surnames like trombones
I'm a snob... an outrageous snob
And when I talk of love
It's stark-naked in the courtyard

We get together with our friends
Every Friday, where we snob it up in style
There's coke, we hate that
And camambert which we eat with a teaspoon
My apartment is truly charming
I heat it with diamonds, you couldn't wish for anything more smoking [fumant= smoky OR fantastic]
I had a TV, but found it tiresome
I've turned it round... from the back it's riveting

I'm snob... I'm a snob
I've been consumed by the bug
I have accidents in Jaguars
I spend the month of August in the sack
It's small details like that
That make you a snob or not
I'm a snob... Even more snobbish than 5 minutes ago
And when I die
I want a shroud from chez Dior


As for me, all I can say, like this song, I'm "encor plus snob que tout à l'heure."

[Todd]

How do you - how should I - make peace with a world in which people incessantly try to portray themselves as superior to the rest of humanity?

Take solace in the fact that everyone dies.  While one may be snobby about even death, making sure to buy the most fashionable casket, it doesn't matter.

I'm snob-confused.  I love classical music, high end stereo gear, nice camera gear, exotic coffee, and spendy whiskey, but then I drive a Honda Fit, eat Dominoes (their cheesy bread is awesome), use duct tape inappropriately, listen to Lana Del Rey, and watch Adam Sandler movies.  Life is all about balance.

[Brian]

use duct tape inappropriately

[Karl Henning]

Take solace in the fact that everyone dies.  While one may be snobby about even death, making sure to buy the most fashionable casket, it doesn't matter.

I'm snob-confused.  I love classical music, high end stereo gear, nice camera gear, exotic coffee, and spendy whiskey, but then I drive a Honda Fit, eat Dominoes (their cheesy bread is awesome), use duct tape inappropriately, listen to Lana Del Rey, and watch Adam Sandler movies.  Life is all about balance.

Are there any Adam Sandler movies beneath your notice? I ask only for information

[Sergeant Rock]

use duct tape inappropriately

Sarge

[The new erato]

Take solace in the fact that everyone dies.  While one may be snobby about even death, making sure to buy the most fashionable casket, it doesn't matter.

I'm snob-confused.  I love classical music, high end stereo gear, nice camera gear, exotic coffee, and spendy whiskey, but then I drive a Honda Fit, eat Dominoes (their cheesy bread is awesome), use duct tape inappropriately, listen to Lana Del Rey, and watch Adam Sandler movies.  Life is all about balance.

And knowing the difference. We are allowed to love crappy stuff, and most us cannot afford the great things in life on all fronts. One must prioritize, and not everything is equally important. I would never be more precise for my meetings if I wore an expensive watch. But we are not allowed to mistake it for great stuff!

[North Star]

And knowing the difference. We are allowed to love crappy stuff, and most us cannot afford the great things in life on all fronts. One must prioritize, and not everything is equally important. I would never be more precise for my meetings if I wore an expensive watch. But we are not allowed to mistake it for great stuff!

+1
I've paid more for a single CD than I did for my speaker set which I use to listen music, but I'm not proud of that in any reverse-snobbish way either. The speakers serve their purpose well enough for now.

[Ken B]

Take solace in the fact that everyone dies.  While one may be snobby about even death, making sure to buy the most fashionable casket, it doesn't matter.

I'm snob-confused.  I love classical music, high end stereo gear, nice camera gear, exotic coffee, and spendy whiskey, but then I drive a Honda Fit, eat Dominoes (their cheesy bread is awesome), use duct tape inappropriately, listen to Lana Del Rey, and watch Adam Sandler movies.  Life is all about balance.

I use duct tape to make Adam Sandler discs unusable. I do not consider that inappropriate.

[North Star]

I use duct tape to make Adam Sandler discs unusable. I do not consider that inappropriate.

It is extremely inappropriate, and misplaced snobbery too, if you intend to use them to scare away birds. Imagine how much more effective the sight of a bare Adam Sandler disc would be!

[drogulus]

     I'm caught between Pascali's and Gilligan's Islands.

     Yet I can't hide my deep snobbist roots.

     I don't care if a guitar amp has an octal tube preamp and no negative feedback around the output stage I will not buy it if it has a printed circuit board, not even a D*. Maybe I make an exception for a 1963 Klemt Echolette, maybe I don't.