Snowflake?

[NATI BENGALS]

Who originated this phase? What does it mean?

[Benton]

It's been used for centuries with different meanings. It gained some popularity from Fight Club with the (mostly) current meaning, which is the opposite of being a snowflake: that you aren't original or special (as a snowflake is). The far right has taken it a bit further, using it for that meaning, along with the effect of not being able to hold up to much.

[BmorePat87]

for the definition I assume you’re referring to, most entries on Urban Dictionary originate from late 2016 to mid 2017.

A similar definition specifically referring to forum moderators being too sensitive originates a decade earlier.

The wide spread use of it as an insult against liberals likely evolved from their conservative online communities and gained widespread usage in the final stages of the 2016 election.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

We sort of used it up here in Alaska over 30 years ago when we would jokingly rip on someone when they were mad or pissed.

"She's got you in the palm of her hand, Snowflake, and we're watching you having a meltdown."

[Benton]

(08-02-2020, 09:25 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote:  

A similar definition specifically referring to forum moderators being too sensitive originates a decade earlier.

[Millhouse]

(08-02-2020, 11:03 PM)Benton Wrote:

Definitely assuming he meant the old Bengals board 



Oh cmon thats funny!

[BmorePat87]

(08-02-2020, 11:03 PM)Benton Wrote:

If the shoe fits 

haha, but there was a definition on there from 2007 that said that about moderators.

[samhain]

It's a clever insult, for the most part, but like most slang, it has an expiration date. It's slightly above "sheeple" on the scale of words that make people that use them sound automatically out of touch.

[*Nately120*]

Methinks "snowflake" is someone who is perceived to be upset or offended by something that doesn't upset or offend the person saying it. Like any sort of self-delusion we tend to think that we get upset/offended because things that are legitimately wrong/evil and require protest/disdain but others get upset because they are crybaby wimps.

I get upset for good reasons and because I hate what is wrong...you get upset because you're a big ol' wimpy crybaby. Bonus points for people who don't realize the irony in whining about how much people whine "these days." Back in the good ol' days no one got offended WAHHHHHHH why can't things be like that again!? WAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH there are too many people WHINING!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Benton]

(08-02-2020, 11:28 PM)Millhouse Wrote: Definitely assuming he meant the old Bengals board 



Oh cmon thats funny!

(08-02-2020, 11:54 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: If the shoe fits 

haha, but there was a definition on there from 2007 that said that about moderators.

[Dill]

(08-02-2020, 08:33 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: Who originated this phase? What does it mean?

Well, I'm a little older than most folks here. So I remember when the word "snowflake" referred to a tiny bit of ice crystal which formed at high altitudes and then collected other tiny bits of ice as it fell to earth, creating a kind of lattice-work of frost around the original crystal. Billions of these things used to fall from the sky to create something called "snow."

I was always told that "no two were alike," though I am not sure how anyone could check them all.  So I guess each one was special.

One thing's for sure, they didn't last long if I caught one in my had to inspect it. They just melted.

Seems like sometime during Bush II's last term and Obama's first term, I began hearing Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and their ditto-heads calling young liberals "snowflakes" if they complained about civil rights violations (especially sexual harassment) or about Rush and Sean's incivility. The implication was that all theses feminazis and Blacks and college students were spoiled children who thought themselves special and unique but could not stand up to even the medium, much less the hard knocks of life on their own. They whined about non problems because of the "sensitivity" enabled by their privileged backgrounds--a sensitivity real Americans had no time for.

After Trump's election the accusation was somewhat flipped as suddenly right wingers were complaining about how poor Trump and his surrogates were picked on and wasn't that so hypocritical of liberals always calling for civility and complaining whenever Trump made a racist/sexist remark.