origin of "to cock a snook"

[dsteve54]

origin of "to cock a snook".....ehhhhhh, okay, I am not even sure I can define it, much less think about origin, except to say it is some sort of derisive or defiant gesture and I can at least give a pointer to a picture
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/10/31/article-0-15C72D5C000005DC-249_634x400.jpg
, but I can't say much more to help...maybe fingers wave or are static....I don't know....term sounds British...maybe an American may say five-fingered salute, but I rarely see any name for it....I just see it being done...but I have no idea what a snook is...etc.

[Slava]

Here's one explanation, though it, too, doesn't know what a snook is:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/cock-a-snook.html

[gailr]

I remember a discussion about this phrase, and I thought it was here. I can only find this brief reference at the mo but will look again later.

[Perry Lassiter]

I just remember we did it a bunch in the fifties. Usually thumb on nose, four fingers waving. But I don't remember connecting it with the cock a snoot phrase before, though I had heard it.

[Slava]

I just remember we did it a bunch in the fifties. Usually thumb on nose, four fingers waving. But I don't remember connecting it with the cock a snoot phrase before, though I had heard it.

I must ask, did you mean to write "snoot", or is it a typo?

[Philip Hudson]

I am interested in almost every Good Word and Good Word suggestion. But "to cock a snook" is entirely foreign to me and also holds absolutely none of my interest. So why am I bothering to post this? I really can't say.

[Slava]

So why am I bothering to post this? I really can't say.

Good point.

[dsteve54]

Your contributions are all appreciated, thanks. But note that I put my request in the section "Good Word 'Suggestions'" rather than "Discussions", simply as an idea for Dr. Beard. So I guess it would not have mattered to me if anybody other than Dr. Beard had wanted to entertain it or not. But I thank you.

[Perry Lassiter]

Snoot was not a typo. That's how I always heard it. Thanks for pointing out the K. Now you got me to wondering why the difference.

[Philip Hudson]

I think we have always commented on Good Word Suggestions. It gives us more fodder for our cannons. I am happy to entertain "to cock a snook" even though no one seems to know where it came from. I just don't plan to put it in my vocabulary of immediate recall. Due to my advanced age, that vocabulary has tended carefully so I won't always be at a loss for words.

[Slava]

I think we have always commented on Good Word Suggestions. It gives us more fodder for our cannons.

True. I also believe our comments give the Dr. more to go on and show him what his readers are interested in.

I also don't recall the Dr. ever taking up a phrase.

A suggestion: if anyone does not wish to hear from the Agora, go to the blog or write a PM to the Good Dr. directly.