Oh, you snarky developers!(blog.logicalrand.com)
blog.logicalrand.com
Oh, you snarky developers!
http://blog.logicalrand.com/2008/9/11/oh-you-snarky-developers
6 comments
I enjoyed that article, and its important to note that "snark" has a long and generally successful history. They used to call it "wit" and many writers built a career around it. In the workplace, wit is often a way to rail against pointless mind-numbing hierarchies without actually assaulting anyone ;-)
snark ≠ wit
snark includes a snide/smug element; wit rarely does
snark includes a snide/smug element; wit rarely does
Well, rarely ≠ never, but I just thought I'd go look for some examples - decided Oscar Wilde quotes would be a good place to start
A man can be happy with any woman, as long as he does not love her.
A true friend stabs you in the front.
All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling.
Ambition is the last refuge of the failure.
Just as examples. Admittedly I'm cherry-picking, but I'm 100% convinced that smugness or a sense of self-superiority is integral to "wit."
A man can be happy with any woman, as long as he does not love her.
A true friend stabs you in the front.
All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling.
Ambition is the last refuge of the failure.
Just as examples. Admittedly I'm cherry-picking, but I'm 100% convinced that smugness or a sense of self-superiority is integral to "wit."
Whether any of those quotes are snide depends on the context: especially whether they were directed against someone in particular.
Further: wit is often self-deprecating (and some of those Wildisms may have been offered in that spirit), while snark hardly ever is.
Further: wit is often self-deprecating (and some of those Wildisms may have been offered in that spirit), while snark hardly ever is.