Comments on: Snark vs. Wit

Question: Snark vs. Wit

Tube — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:06:21 -0800

What is the difference between snark and wit?

The first entry in the Urban Dictionary claims that "snark" is a portmanteau of "snide" and "remark". Obviously the word is much older than that, but perhaps in this sense the etymology is correct. Having read lots of Michael Quinion, I'm wary of these types of claims.

I checked Webster's Third International, but all I got was a synonym of "snore" or "snort", chiefly a British usage...

I don't have immediate access to the OED.

Frankly I think I first encountered the term "snark" here on Metafilter, and I've been somewhat confused trying to figure out its meaning through context.

Sometimes it seems to mean humorless negativity, as you would expect from "snide remark". But other times it seems to mean what I think of as "wit", a carefully crafted short remark that includes humor, which may or may not be biting.

Sadly, I understand the meaning of "asshattapalooza" better than "snark".

By: youcancallmeal

youcancallmeal — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:08:34 -0800

I've always understood snark to have malicious underpinnings, whereas wit is just being clever.

By: vacapinta

vacapinta — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:09:45 -0800

OED:

2. intr. and trans. To find fault (with), to nag.
1882 Jamieson's Sc. Dict. IV. 314/2 To Snark,..to fret, grumble, or find fault with one. 1904 E. NESBIT Ph{oe}nix & Carpet x. 185 He remembered how Anthea had refrained from snarking him about tearing the carpet.

Also: Snarky:

Irritable, short-tempered, 'narky'.
1906 E. NESBIT Railway Children ii. 49 Don't be snarky, Peter. It isn't our fault. 1913 J. VAIZEY College Girl xxiv. 326 'Why should you think I am "snarky"?' 'Because{em}you are! You're not a bit sociable and friendly.' 1953 E. COXHEAD Midlanders x. 247 I've known you were the soul of kindness, under that snarky way. a1974 R. CROSSMAN Diaries (1976) II. 627 We also have to overcome something else{em}the stream of anti-government propaganda, smearing, snarky, derisive, which comes out of Fleet Street.

By: amyms

amyms — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:12:51 -0800

Anyone can be snarky, but it takes intelligence to be witty.

By: jejune

jejune — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:17:40 -0800

The first answer nailed it.

By: HotPatatta

HotPatatta — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:18:16 -0800

Snark is what we use in MetaTalk, wit is what we use in AskMe.

The intent of the speaker is what differentiates the words. If the speaker wants to make you feel like an ass, s/he'll be snarky.

By: MadamM

MadamM — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:24:00 -0800

I've always imagined snark coming with a hint of a sneer. Wit, on the other hand, includes a grin or a wink. Quite different.

By: L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg

L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:28:14 -0800

I always think of snark as being the sort of thing that gets e-mailed around with subject lines like "OMG SO FUNNY!" and when you read about it, there aren't any actual jokes, just declarative statements like "I don't give a shit about Britney Spears. She's just some fat untalented idiot. I wish someone would hit her in the head with a brick," and that somehow gets translated into surgical satire in some people's minds because wow I hate Britney too! It's true! Someone should hit her!

So to me snark is like artificial wit substitute. Like a fat-free dessert that loads on extra sugar to make up for it, snark hopes to compensate for lack of insight by piling on the venom.

By: L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg

L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:28:49 -0800

Oif. "When you read it," not "when you read about it."

By: qxntpqbbbqxl

qxntpqbbbqxl — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:34:33 -0800

The first entry in the Urban Dictionary claims that "snark" is a portmanteau of "snide" and "remark".

On an etymological tangent...

I always thought it came from Lewis Carroll's Hunting of the Snark, which solidly predates the 1906 use cited by dictionary.com et al. It may well be a portmanteau, considering that Lewis Carroll also coined that term.

By: zengargoyle

zengargoyle — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:44:11 -0800

I put snark with snipe and troll. It's there to get you to waste your time coming up with a good answer to a stupid "ha ha" question. Wit will make you LOL, snark will make you write a long response before you get the "oh, haha".

By: iamkimiam

iamkimiam — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:34:21 -0800

Snark is the start of a snide remark, whereas wit is one part wise, yet still all of it.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 03:06:45 -0800

Wit is an intelligent, friendly and playful gesture. Snark is a snide, destructive and malicious act.

By: motown missile

motown missile — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 03:10:55 -0800

Snark is the English speaking version of schadenfreude, the sort of humor that comes from the misfortunes of others. Wit derives from the common misfortunes we all suffer, and recognizing that fact. Sometimes there is a small portion of wisdom included, but not always.

By: Malor

Malor — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 04:05:47 -0800

I'm not sure it HAS an official definition yet, MeFi is sort of inventing it.

It seems to me that snark is always derogatory toward someone. As MadamM says, it always has a sneer. And it generally seems to come from a vasty-jaded worldview, the 'well of COURSE the White House lost the hard drives' kind of attitude.

Yeah, snark as "jaded, slightly-veiled sneering"... that's a definition I think I could back.

By: Malor

Malor — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 04:07:47 -0800

(by the way, I don't think this is chatfilter, because some answers can be clearly wrong.)

By: Dizzy

Dizzy — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 04:42:59 -0800

Wit is a gleaming scalpel.
Snark is a brick wrapped in shiny paper.

By: watercarrier

watercarrier — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 06:05:29 -0800

I think snark is a dart to the heart and wit allows for no pain to be inflicted on another.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 06:24:23 -0800

For this to make any sense, you have to be talking about things that are ostensibly humorous that come at the expense of someone. Otherwise, wit includes puns and knock-knock jokes.

Wit happens at the expense of other people that I don't particularly like.
Snark happens at my expense, or at the expense of people I like.

Wit is something that I and people I like do.
Snark is something that people I don't like do.

Which is to say that there isn't really any difference. In particular, whether something is positive and playful or negative and destructive will depend primarily on your opinion of the thing or person that the remark is about or your opinion of the speaker. When someone makes a remark, you mentally see a sneer on the faces of people you don't like, and a wink on the face of people you do like.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 06:59:54 -0800

[a few comments removed - if your answers are merely examples of snark/wit but not also answers to the question, feel free to save them for email or metatalk, thank you.]

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:00:31 -0800

I guess I've always gone with the snide remark thing - I think of snark as being what happens in the comments on gawker. So actually, sort of the opposite of this:

Wit happens at the expense of other people that I don't particularly like.
Snark happens at my expense, or at the expense of people I like.

By: adamrice

adamrice — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:24:03 -0800

Wit illuminates. Snark abrades.

By: YouRebelScum

YouRebelScum — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:28:24 -0800

I think you can have a witty piece of snark - wit is a characteristic of a person, specifically, that he or she is clever and amusing in speech/writing; snark's defined by what its trying to do, i.e. undermine someone or something down, generally needlessly or with undertones of malice.

By: nebulawindphone

nebulawindphone — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:39:38 -0800

Well, first off, snark and wit do pretty clearly overlap. Look at Dorothy Parker or Oscar Wilde talking trash on their fellow authors for examples that fall into both categories.

Usually, snark is a verbal way of punishing someone for being more optimistic than you. "What? We all know there's nothing new/good/interesting/worthwhile out there! Can you really be so stupid as to think X is new/good/interesting/worthwhile?"

But maybe that's too narrow a definition. A better general definition of snark might be "the sarcastic defense of negative assumptions." The negativity might be aimed at the listener (of course your favorite band sucks) but it might not be (of course the government sucks; of course reporters suck).

By: Green Eyed Monster

Green Eyed Monster — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:52:06 -0800

The observer's frame of reference. One man's wit is another man's snark.

By: breezeway

breezeway — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 08:21:44 -0800

Wit is internal, a mental process: cleverness. A witty remark is the product of wit.

Snark is a manner of presentation: a snide remark. Snark is a form of address, not a thought process.

Wit can be snarky, snark can be witty; wit can be snarkless, snark can be witless. The seed, the fruit; the fruit, the seed.

Pop! Tutti frutti.

By: Tube

Tube — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:46:23 -0800

Wit happens at the expense of other people that I don't particularly like.
Snark happens at my expense, or at the expense of people I like.

Wit is something that I and people I like do.
Snark is something that people I don't like do.

This seems like an entirely plausible answer, probably due to the fact that it reminds me so strongly of Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary.

But I'm going to "favorite" Blazecock Pileon's answer, because I feel it is succinct and spot-on, and of course because he's a "contact" of mine...

By: theora55

theora55 — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:39:36 -0800

I think of snark as a contraction of snide & sarcastic. Wit is more clever. Many snide, sarcastic, or foolish remarks attempt wit, a few are successful.