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Cock a Snook

Posted by James Briggs on May 11, 2003

In Reply to: Cock a Snook posted by DanF on May 11, 2003

: Any suggestions?

If you cock a snook at someone then you show them contempt or opposition. Snook in this saying is the action of putting one's thumb to the nose and spreading out the fingers as a sign of contempt. The gesture only became used in the 19th century and its origins are apparently unknown.

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