Saturday, September 10, 2011
The snob waggle
Not relevant to any current controversy, just something I started thinking about. Realized it probably hasn't been 'documented' before. I've seen it from the outside, and I've felt it from the inside when I was a loyal hippiecommie.
When a committed Commie is talking to one of the unwashed unenlightened masses (the deniers or skeptics or Neanderthals) you'll occasionally notice a pause of a few seconds, accompanied by a slight fast shaking of the head with eyes cast downward. The shaking is almost imperceptible.
If you could turn the waggle into words, it would say: "Explaining this concept to you would make me feel dirty. My words would be hopelessly sullied by exposure to your eardrums."
Usually it's a concept that the Commie doesn't have a standard talking-point for; sometimes it's a concept that has gone through so many stages of redefinition and re-euphemization that the Commie can't properly untangle it in his own head.
Occasionally you'll see the same waggle in other types of snobs, such as a Catholic trying to explain transubstantiation or a rich Jew trying to explain why he absolutely needs to own everything in the world. You Neanderthals can't be expected to understand these Basic Universal Laws. ¶ 11:32 AM
When a committed Commie is talking to one of the unwashed unenlightened masses (the deniers or skeptics or Neanderthals) you'll occasionally notice a pause of a few seconds, accompanied by a slight fast shaking of the head with eyes cast downward. The shaking is almost imperceptible.
If you could turn the waggle into words, it would say: "Explaining this concept to you would make me feel dirty. My words would be hopelessly sullied by exposure to your eardrums."
Usually it's a concept that the Commie doesn't have a standard talking-point for; sometimes it's a concept that has gone through so many stages of redefinition and re-euphemization that the Commie can't properly untangle it in his own head.
Occasionally you'll see the same waggle in other types of snobs, such as a Catholic trying to explain transubstantiation or a rich Jew trying to explain why he absolutely needs to own everything in the world. You Neanderthals can't be expected to understand these Basic Universal Laws. ¶ 11:32 AM
