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Your view runs counter to the dictionary definition of snob, which includes a strong negative connotation: 1. a person who imitates, cultivates, or slavishly a
by abtinf 10y ago
Your view runs counter to the dictionary definition of snob, which includes a strong negative connotation:
1. a person who imitates, cultivates, or slavishly admires social superiors and is condescending or overbearing to others.
2. a person who believes himself or herself an expert or connoisseur in a given field and is condescending toward or disdainful of those who hold other opinions or have different tastes regarding this field.
In the first case, a snob substitutes the views of the social elite for his own judgement. In the second case, a snob declares himself a member of the social elite because he holds different views. In both cases, what makes the person a snob is that they are not judging the material qua the material; indeed they are not concerned with the material at all. Instead, they are concerned with social advantage.
I'm not sure there is a word for someone who judges a subject based on the merits. An enthusiast?
- rhizome 10y agoYour view runs counter to the dictionary definition of snob I'm fine with that. If you want to make "elites" a foundation for a definition, you might as well just roll both of those up into "bourgeois," thought #2 is arguably more "asshole." For me, an enthusiast might be someone who finds reasons to be into something (the opposite of my def of snob), but I don't think there's a word for simply liking stuff that is good. "Not completely depressed," perhaps.