Where’s this phrase from? It seems to have snuck up on me; just suddenly many people are using it.
Oh, snap! He asked the question!
I have no idea where it came from and I’ve been saying it for at least 5 years now. You’ve got me wondering now.
This is where I first heard it, but that’s admittedly probably not the origin.
But what exactly does it mean? I’ve been meaning to ask, as my 7 yr. old has been saying it and saying it…the way he uses it, it can mean “wow, that’s really cool!” or “Darn, that’s disappointing”, neither of which seem to be the way it’s used in that cartoon.
this is the first slang one of my kids has picked up that I don’t know. I feel old.
From the Dictionary of Playground Slang (Online)
http://www.odps.org/glossword/index.php?a=term&t=5baf5aacb1b0acacb0aa
From the 60’s, it refers to food in the UK.
All those definitions are coming from the 90’s, and some other places do mention that it comes from the sound of the snapping fingers, as one sometimes does when number 3 happens.
I always figured it was a politer way of saying, “Oh shit!”
From what i’ve heard, it’s equivalent to “Dude, you got pwned!” - recognition that something impressive and worthy of respect has occurred, and that another has been caught out by it.
It was used when I was a teenager (1970s) in senses 3 and 4 as quoted by GIGObuster. I see sense 4 as similar to the “pwned” usage.
So if it is popular again, it’s a revival, rather than a brand new thing.
I’ve also used it and heard it in senses #3 and #4 since about 1991/92. So it’s not a new phrase by any stretch.
I first heard a variation of it on In Living Color. (I’ll give that three snaps in a circle!)
Does he by any chance watch Filmore on the Disney Channel or Toon Disney? They use it quite a bit. Mostly to mean, “Darn” or “Aww Man”. That’s where my 7½ yr old picked it up. I’ve started saying it now, in order to avoid more, shall we say, unsavory phrases.
If two guys are about to brawl, and a bystander says “aw snap!”, it means the shit is about to “go down”.
I had a roommate that did not swear. He used in when I would have said shit. I ended up picking it up. Now to find replacments for the rest of my vocabulary.
-Otanx
I’ve never heard anyone say it.
And here was me thinking it came from the card game!
Oh, (snap fingers) = Oh shit, is what I’ve heard most.
Could the use of the word ‘snap’ by kids be because they can’t snap their fingers?
Fry used it on Futurama, once or twice…maybe the near-constant reruns and the show’s cult following helped it really jump into the public consciousness in recent times?
Lets not forget in Just a Friend by Biz Markie the following lines
"
I didn’t know I was in for such an event
So I came to her room and opened the door
Oh, snap! guess what I saw?
A fella tongue-kissin’ my girl in the mouth,
I was so in shock my heart went down south
"
There’s also those new Volkswagon commercials with the german guy from the Big Lebowski, and he says it too.