Snap
Snap is a popular children's card game in which the object is to win all the cards, and the source of a very annoying vocal tic among speakers of US English who don't even understand why they say it.
How to play
In the game the entire pack of cards is dealt out among the players. Play proceeds with the players taking it in turns to place a card in a central pile. If two cards placed consecutively on the pile are identical (or, if a conventional pack of cards is used, are of the same number) then the first player to shout "Snap!" and place his hand on the top of the central pile wins all the cards in the pile. Players are eliminated if they lose all their cards. A winner is the person who accumulates the entire pack.
The game is often one of the first card games to be taught to children and is often played with special packs of cards featuring popular children's characters from television programmes or recent films. For older children more complex packs exist, where the differences between cards are more subtle and penalties exist for falsely calling Snap.
For speakers of US English
This handy guide will prevent you from embarrassing yourself.
Correct: when to say "Snap!" IRL
Whenever two things match unexpectedly, such as two people saying, doing, or wearing the same thing at the same time.
Explanation: by saying "Snap!" you are humorously referring to a winning move in the card game, i.e., calling on a matching pair
Incorrect: when not to say "Snap!" IRL
For any other reason whatsoever.
Explanation: by saying "Snap!" when there is no matching pair of anything, you are making yourself look like a cretin
Possible origin of this faggotry
An error message in some of the earlier incarnations of Google Chrome (pictured below). It appears that the programmers didn't understand the meaning of the phrase "Oh Snap!" and inadvertently exposed millions of US computer users to their stupid misinterpretation.
| File:Google chrome "aw, snap" (error message).jpg |
Gallery of Snap failure
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Literal "aww snap" -
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| Snap is part of a series on Language & Communication | |
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Languages and Dialects • Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, Style, and Usage • Rhetorical Strategies • Poetry •
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