snobbe nedad

Danish

FWOTD – 8 January 2020

Etymology

Attested since 1944.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsnʌb̥əˌneðˀað]

Verb

snobbe nedad ("to be downwards snobbish")

1. (derogatory) to pander to the lowest common denominator; to appeal to lowbrow tastes
   • 2013, Karl Aage Rasmussen, Alle farver, alle sjæle: En bog om George Gershwin, Gyldendal A/S, →ISBN:

     Og uanset hvor de findes, vidner de så ikke altid om en musik der er bange for at være sig selv bekendt, det ene øjeblik bange for at være forfinet og prætentiøs, det næste for at være vulgær og flad; bange for at snobbe opad, bange for at snobbe nedad?

     And wherever they are found, do they not always testify to a music that is afraid of being true to itself, one moment afraid of being refined and pretentious, the next of being vulgar and flat; afraid to be snobbish upwards, afraid to be snobbish downwards?

   • 1964, Aleksander Frøland, Bog og handel: udvalgte artikler:

     Men lad os ikke for dette fænomen glemme, at der også er noget, som hedder at snobbe nedad. Mange annoncekritikere kan ikke få annoncerne demokratiske nok. Selv når bogen decideret henvender sig til highbrows, skal annoncen være affattet for lowbrows. „Enhver idiot skal kunne forstå den."

     But let us not let this phenomenon make us forget that there is also such a thing as pandering. For many advertising critics, there is no such thing as a sufficiently democratic advertisement. Even when the book is decidedly oriented towards highbrows, the advertisement mustbe written for lowbrows. "Any idiot must be able to understand it".

   • 1983, Ejvind Larsen, Ebbe Kløvedal Reich, Hjertets søde morgendrøm, eller, Til kamp mod dødbideriet, →ISBN:

     Man må ikke mistænke dig for at snobbe nedad. Folket vil gerne ha', du viser det respekt og tager dit fine tøj på.

     One mustn't suspect you of pandering. The people want you to show it respect and put on your nice clothes.

   • 1993, Chr Braad Thomsen, Snapshots: film, politik og psykoanalyse 1968-93, →ISBN:

     I den forstand er Skuespillernes rejse overordentlig lærerig for de reaktionære og venstrepopulistiske kræfter i dansk film, der i stadigt stigende grad forsøger at snobbe nedad mod den mest tarvelige smag i et forsøg på at tækkes det store publikum.

     In that sense, Skuespillernes rejse is extremely educational for those reactionary and left-populist forces in Danish cinema, who are increasingly trying to pander to the meanest taste in an attempt to gain popularity with the large audience.

   • 1944, DMT: Dansk musik tidsskrift:

     Den slags Beskyldninger udsættes man nemt for, naar man i vore nedad-snobbende Tider nævner Tingene ved rette Navn i Stedet for at pakke ind eller forgylde.

     One is easily subjected to such accusations when one, in our downwards-snobbish times, mention things by their right name rather than wrap or gild.