We've just come to the end of five days of gloriously sunny and very cold (by our Island standards) clear, icy weather. At one point we even had a few snowflakes.
When the beautiful snowflakes briefly appeared I wondered how and why the term had been appropriated in the news and social media to describe people. Then it occurred to me that, apart from the fact that the people I know who use it seemed to be regarding it as a derogatory term, I hadn't a clue what it meant. Do you know?
I did some research.
According to Wikipedia the definition is a 2010s derogatory slang term for a person, implying that they have an inflated sense of uniqueness, an unwarranted sense of entitlement, OR are overly-emotional, easily offended, and unable to deal with opposing opinions.
However a little further research turned this up from The Independent (UK now online only newspaper): On Christmas Eve 2019 the Donald Trump campaign launched a website called snowflakevictory.com to give guidance to Trump’s supporters about how to deal with their “liberal relatives” over the holiday period. It featured 12 hot-button topics (immigration, impeachment, the environment) and witty comebacks to frequently-cited Democrat arguments.
For someone reading that the year before, it might have seemed odd to include a weather reference. But in the 12 months preceding the website, "snowflake" entered the general lexicon as the epitome of Trump’s opposition. Used to mean everything from weak and wet, to a synonym for the millennial age bracket, snowflake had become a political buzzword.
So it would appear that it can mean all things to all people with one common denominator - it's not a compliment.
I think it is sad that we use beauty to define ugliness.
I had a gift from across The Pond just before Christmas and it greeted all my visitors by hanging in the window of my front porch until this afternoon. It is a crocheted snowflake. In my house a snowflake represents beauty and, of course, uniqueness.
Can't say the current use of the word snowflake is part of the vocabulary I see and hear. If you think the snowflake is misused, then consider not reading the urban dictionary. There are many word shockers there.
ReplyDeleteMaywyn, I hear the term a great deal. I suspect that not reading a dictionary won't make the word's usage go away. I didn't even look in the UD for the definition but I might go and have a peek to see what it says on the subject.
DeleteYou are a long way behind.
ReplyDeleteRachel, it's not for the first time I'm sure.
DeleteWe've had quite a few snowflakes of the real wintry kind falling here today (even if very small ones), but I can't recall having come across the word used about people or in political context. (I wrote, and then clicked on Wikipedia, and found an article in Swedish on what you quoted as well...)
ReplyDeleteMonica, no real snowflakes here. If you've not heard it used perhaps there is hope it will melt into lexicographic history.
DeleteWell, I like your crocheted snowflake, regardless of any alternative meanings attributed to the word.
ReplyDeleteThank you, JayCee.
DeleteWhen I was a teenager my brothers called giggly girls "flakes", I wonder where they got that from? I never made an association with snowflakes but then I wouldn't when snow didn't happen where we lived. I don't think I heard the snowflake term until reasonably recently and I haven't heard it a lot. Really like your pretty crocheted snowflake.
ReplyDeletePauline, 'flakes' is a new one on me. I'm glad you haven't heard it much. Perhaps it will disappear as suddenly as it came - just like a real snowflake.
DeleteAn individual snowflake is so pretty, so unique, so special - the mind that can make that into a term for something ugly has got to be twisted.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, I'm definitely inclined to agree with you.
DeleteI had never heard of snowflake used in this way. It shows how much I'm out of it.
ReplyDeleteRed, you probably just and read more rational news than I do.
DeleteI think of 'Snowflakes' as left-wing, PC obsessed, intolerant liberals. The types who topple statues etc.
ReplyDeleteCro, how anyone associates intolerance and violence with a snowflake is beyond me but it obviously has a lot of different interpretations.
DeleteUntil just now reading your post, I had never come across the word snowflake used in the negative context you describe. To me, snowflakes are beautiful and, indeed, unique. I had several snowflake ornaments on my Christmas tree, and although Christmas was all packed up and brought downstairs into the cellar yesterday, it is still winter with real snowflakes here, so I am keeping a teacandle holder with snowflakes on it as well as a cushion cover with a snowflake pattern on my settee - until the snowy weather is gone.
ReplyDeleteMeike, I'd far rather have your interpretation and pretend the other didn't exist.
DeleteSnowflakes here are very wet and soggy. They are forecast to harden tonight.
ReplyDeleteAdrian, now that's a description I understand.
DeleteSnowflake is a term that has come into use in recent years, and always with a negative slant to it. A snowflake, as I understand it, is someone considered a bit of a lightweight, a person without substance, not someone to be counted on; someone who is as transient and ephemeral as a real snowflake perhaps. It is such a shame that we take one of nature's most wonderful objects, each one unique, and besmirch it in this way.
ReplyDeleteDavid, reading the different and often quite opposite interpretations of the term lead me to hope it will soon melt into lexicographic history.
DeleteThe older I get the more words I come across which have clearly acquired a new meaning since I was at school 🙂
ReplyDeleteDope, salty and woke spring to mind. But before I condemn "young people" for messing up our language I have to remember that language is a constantly evolving and changing thing.
Jayne, I assume that I know the latest meaning for Dope assuming it's the same as it was in Liverpool in the '60s. To me salty and woke mean tasting of salt and the past tense of to wake. Language is constantly evolving (Shakespeare had no "ising" or "areing" for example) but I was wondering principally why one would use a beautiful thing like a snowflake to describe a less than pleasant attribute.
Deletehate to tell you Graham, 😩 but you might be surprised:
Deletehttps://parentinfo.org/article/online-teen-speak-updated
Well, Jayne, it didn't help me with 'snowflake' but I certainly found some of the other definitions both illuminating and surprising. There's a whole new world of unknown words out there.
DeleteInteresting post. I have been called a snowflake. At the time I was showing sensitivity and was upset. It was meant as a derogatory label implying that I was not resilient enough to accept negative critical statements without taking them personally. I see it now as a term that some use to justify not taking the time to take other's feelings into account, and being able to self-justify what is, basically, selfish behaviour. What a lovely crocheted snowflake. It's a perfect media to capture the delicacy and floating nature. It almost looks like it could melt.
ReplyDeleteHello, Kate. It's good, as always, to have you insightful input. I can see the link between a snowflake and lack of resilience because they are very ephemeral things. Looking at how many people seem to use the term I can see, too, how it is used for self-justification. By the way I always think of you as a very strong person but, of course, that doesn't mean that one can't be sensitive too.
DeleteYup I know what a snowflake is, or the general gist of it, here we say either flake or space head or space cadet or someone that has their head in the clouds.
ReplyDeleteWell, Amy, that's two New Zealand views. I've never heard the terms used in New Zealand but then most of my friends were very practical.
DeleteSomeone must have loved you a lot to make you a snowflake like that.
ReplyDeleteMarcheline, that's lovely to know! 😊
DeleteHey you guys! Get a room!
DeleteRelax, it's "agape", not "eros"... 8-)
DeleteYes, I have understood it to mean someone who melts when the slightest bit of heat is applied and more often applied to the more liberal of us.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen an actual snowflake!
Kylie, I haven't seen a snowflake since yesterday (and they are rare on Lewis). It made me wonder whether there is ever snow in Australia. New Zealand isn't too far away and they even have glaciers.
Delete