# "Oh, Snap!" ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 28, 2006, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192 "2006-03-28T02:32:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/1 "2006-03-28T02:32:58Z")
Where’s this phrase from? It seems to have snuck up on me; just suddenly many people are using it. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/2 "2006-03-28T02:39:02Z")
Oh, snap! He asked the question! ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/3 "2006-03-28T02:48:31Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/4 "2006-03-28T02:55:56Z")
[This is where I first heard it](http://www.cubis.ca/index.php?counter=56&a=1), but that’s admittedly probably not the origin. ---
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/5 "2006-03-28T03:07:27Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/6 "2006-03-28T03:07:55Z")
From the Dictionary of Playground Slang (Online) [http://www.odps.org/glossword/index.php?a=term&t=5baf5aacb1b0acacb0aa](http://www.odps.org/glossword/index.php?a=term&t=5baf5aacb1b0acacb0aa) From the 60’s, it refers to food in the UK. > [@](#): > > 1. v. To masturbate. > … > > 2. A “polite” version of the exclamation “Shit!” e.g. “Oh snap! I forgot my homework!” > … > > 4 n. Used to express that one is particularly impressed with an insult that they have just heard. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/7 "2006-03-28T03:16:05Z")
I always figured it was a politer way of saying, “Oh shit!” ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/8 "2006-03-28T03:24:57Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/9 "2006-03-28T04:00:13Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/10 "2006-03-28T04:02:06Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/11 "2006-03-28T04:19:40Z")
I first heard a variation of it on _In Living Color_. (I’ll give that three snaps in a circle!) ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/12 "2006-03-28T04:26:09Z")
> [@carlotta](#): > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/13 "2006-03-28T04:40:51Z")
If two guys are about to brawl, and a bystander says “aw snap!”, it means the shit is about to “go down”. ---
**Author:** ![Otanx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Otanx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otanx)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/14 "2006-03-28T05:17:08Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/15 "2006-03-28T06:11:54Z")
I’ve never heard anyone say it. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/16 "2006-03-28T06:15:20Z")
And here was me thinking it came from the card game! ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/17 "2006-03-28T06:18:09Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/18 "2006-03-28T09:25:03Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/19 "2006-03-28T11:52:36Z")
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 " ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192/20 "2006-03-28T13:20:00Z")
There’s also those new Volkswagon commercials with the german guy from the Big Lebowski, and he says it too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-snap/350192.md?page=2)