# What does "Oh snap!" mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 26, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-oh-snap-mean/594203 "2011-08-26T18:37:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-oh-snap-mean/594203/61 "2011-08-27T06:22:51Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > No one I have ever heard has said “quarter OF (hour)”, everywhere I have been it’s “quarter to” (or as I would pronounce it “quarter tuh” 😛 ) or “quarter til”. I would assume quarter of 5 means 4:45 if I heard it though, is that right? That is right. And since, as you said it’s so close to the “quarter to/til” construction, I was startled that it was something people had to think about. OTOH, I’ve heard quarter of since before I could tell time and it was reinforced by being the default way to speak about time in school, so I guess that’s an advantage over people just hearing it for the first time. Here’s a confused peron elsewhere [English Forward](http://www.englishforums.com/English/ItsAQuarterOfSix/gcqjd/post.htm) ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-oh-snap-mean/594203/62 "2011-08-27T06:47:41Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I somehow have the image of a large black woman saying something withering while her head does that side-to-side motion, which she then punctuates by extending her arm to side at about eye level and literally snapping her fingers. That’s where I figured “ohhh SNAP” came from. > [@BigT](#): > > Me, too. And that’s exactly why it always makes me laugh a bit when a guy or otherwise completely incongruent person says it. So thanks, **Mellon**. That’s the Z Snap. Compare: [The Z Snap](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y8ViGvCrL8&feature=related) [Oh Snap!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcxpbhM0DaA&feature) That so many of you haven’t heard of this is funny to me. It wasn’t even all that popular in my school (though it did get some use) because it’s so played out that anyone saying it would almost certainly be doing it ironically. It wasn’t ever explained to me, it’s just obvious from context what it means. ---
**Author:** ![Obeseus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@Obeseus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obeseus)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-oh-snap-mean/594203/63 "2011-08-27T10:02:31Z")
I had never heard of it until a few years ago when my kids were watching “That’s So Raven,” in which they seemed to say it at least once per episode. In that show, it was obviously a substitute for something like, “Oh, shit.” ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-oh-snap-mean/594203/64 "2011-08-27T10:16:51Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I have never heard it in conversation. The few times I have heard or seen it have been on TV comedy sketches or on the SDMB. I assumed that it had something to do with the card game Snap: > > [Snap (card game) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snap_(card_game)#Snap) > > As you can see, one shouts this if one sees two identical cards. I assumed that it means, “Yeah, you’re correct. You see the problem too.” This isn’t too far from the meaning given for the expression in the link I give. That says that it means, “Me too.” That’s correct. That’s the only way I’ve _ever_ heard it used, as in the card game, meaning “me too”. If the game Snap isn’t played in the US, or is called something different to “Snap”, there’s your answer; people heard it and didn’t grasp the card game context and started using it in some other way. But if anyone said “Oh snap” to me I’d think they were saying “Oh, me too” because until opening this thread I’ve never heard it used any other way. ETA: I’m 46, that usage dates back at least to my childhood in the 1970s ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-oh-snap-mean/594203/65 "2011-08-27T10:56:44Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > That’s correct. That’s the only way I’ve _ever_ heard it used, as in the card game, meaning “me too”. > > If the game Snap isn’t played in the US, or is called something different to “Snap”, there’s your answer; people heard it and didn’t grasp the card game context and started using it in some other way. But if anyone said “Oh snap” to me I’d think they were saying “Oh, me too” because until opening this thread I’ve never heard it used any other way. I concur with all of this - few things have surprised me more on the SDMB than it taking until the bottom of the first page before someone mentioned the card game. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-oh-snap-mean/594203/66 "2011-08-27T16:15:12Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > These three accurately describe my intent when I used the phrase in the thread the OP linked to. Ha ha ha! I thought you were being sarcastic. I always thought ‘oh snap’ acknowledged a zinger that was really a zinger but was all wit and not really insulting in itself- like the speaker remains beyond reproach in his speech even though he is putting someone else down. Because Dawkins is being insulting and over-reaching, I thought you didn’t really mean it. So maybe nobody ever understands anybody on these boards, which would explain a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-oh-snap-mean/594203/67 "2011-08-28T11:03:28Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Chrome uses it in some error messages. “Oh, snap! That file isn’t there anymore!” That’s where I’ve seen it! Except Chrome says “Aw, Snap!”, and it definitely means it in the, “Oh s\*\*\*, something’s gone wrong!” sense. There’s a screengrab right at the bottom of [this blog](http://sblazak.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/) which discusses “Oh snap”. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-oh-snap-mean/594203/68 "2011-08-28T13:04:42Z")
I’m an old guy who has lived in seven different states; I’ve never in my life actually heard anyone use the phrase “Oh, snap.” The only place I’ve seen it written out is right here on the SDMB. I don’t watch TV very much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-oh-snap-mean/594203.md?page=3)