Building A Better Penguin With Snaffles
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
{Penguins and Parentheses} has had a few changes over the past couple of days... it's part new year refresh, part learning experience, the start of something that might (or might not) turn into something bigger, and definitely a work in progress. Even though half the world seems to read blogs through rss and not see the site itself, when you start getting sick of the look of it and all fidgetty, it's a sign that a change needs to start brewing in a freshly warmed pot. Dormouse optional. Creative types with gorgeous photos and technical sorts who know their html from their css have been greatly envied in the wee small hours, and there has been a certain amount of gnashing of teeth.
There'll still be just as much gobbling and prattling as ever. Hopefully, even more of the edibles will be tasty, and at least some of the going-on-about-bit-and-pieces will make sense (and not send you to sleep). To help with the latter*, here's part one of a new section on Understanding Your Penguin - a look (and a bit of a poke) at some of the slightly more idiosycratic terms that pop up around here. Or the perfectly normal ones that get used in not quite their proper way...
Snaffle
According to the Oxford English Dictionary:
(1) (on a bridle) A simple bit , typically a jointed one , used with a single set of reins.
(2) Take (something) for oneself, typically quickly or without permission.
According to a penguin:
(3) Consume a small morsel of something tasty, often from the edges of a baked item, directly from a saucepan, jar or fridge, while preparing or assembling a dish, proffered (or snuck) from a dining companion’s plate, or otherwise eaten in passing. They have to be little (you can’t snaffle an entire hamburger or a bowl of trifle), slightly indulgent (you can’t snaffle a salad, although nibbles of fruit would just about qualify) and with a level of spontaneity (you really can’t snaffle breakfast, although several snaffles can, when needs must, substitute for a “proper meal”). The best meals (second breakfast, afternoon tea, supper, or almost anything eaten at the trifle-eating cat’s house) have an air of snaffling about them, combined with a size and legitimacy that makes them somewhat more official. Perhaps it’s just snaffling in company that does the trick!
(4) The name for something with the potential to be, about to be, or that has just been, snaffled.
A snaffle:
A bit too big for a snaffle (but still delicious):
* The making sense part - the falling asleep part might be a bit too big a goal to begin with!
** Which, for some reason, makes me think about the Swiss Family Robinson. Which, entirely logicaly, ends up with thoughts of cheese. Doesn't everything?
