Matt Snell was the fullback for The New York Jets who with Joe
Namath, Quarterback, defeated The Baltimore Colts for the first
victory of the American Football League over the then arrogant NFL.
Namath had predicted a Jets' victory in the pre-game runup when
lounging on a deck chair surrounded by the press and girlfriends at
the Fountainebleau Hotel (where _Goldfinger_ was filmed) in Miami.
Snell gained about 100 yards and time and again eluded Colt tacklers.
The experts thought that any AFL team was so inexperienced that there
was no way for the Jets to win. The consummate nerve of Namath,
Alabama University graduate, Pittsburgh born, psyched out the Colts.
Just when it seemed that the Colts had all the Jet pass catchers
covered, Matt Snell snaked on a delay into an open seam; Namath
(bootleg fake) to Snell: Bingo! First Down.
>Snell (again) -- from _The Concise Scots Dictionary_:
>
>3. Of Weather. biting, bitter, severe. late 14thC.
>
>There are 6 adjectival and 3 adverbial meanings listed, but that was the one
>I had in mind. (And, looking more closely, other than the adverbial form of
>adj. 3 above, the only meaning which is still more than locally current.)
>It's also the earliest recorded meaning.
>
>Beyond that, I pass the buck to someone with access to _The Dictionary of
>the Older Scottish Tongue_ (multiple volumes, covering => 1700) and _The
>Scottish National Dictionary_ (multiple volumes, covering 1700+).
>
>Robin
>
>(the ever-helpful, hirpling off)
>
>[A Qualification on the above, and an aside to Candice: CSD gives the sense
>of "active" as dating from late 16thC. However, the OED (Ed2, on CD) gives
>this as the +earliest+ meaning, and cites Beowulf:
>
> 1. a. Of persons: Quick in movement or action; prompt, smart, active,
>strenuous; ?good.
> In ME. freq. as a general epithet of commendation. In later Sc. use
>tending towards the sense of 'sharp, keen'.
>
> Beowulf 2971 Ne meahte se snella sunu Wonredes ealdum ceorle hondslyht
>¼iofan.
>
>-- ¼ in the Beowulf quote above is from the OED yog. I refuse to speculate
>whether this should be transcribed in the modern alphabet as "y" or "g" in
>this case. Perhaps, Candice ...?]
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Candice Ward" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Monday, August 06, 2001 3:04 AM
>Subject: Re: HG my name JG my game WS wont same
>
>
>> Try a search on "snell" in the Brit-Po archives. I can't remember when
>> exactly it came up there--relative to McDiarmid, I think--but some listees
>> did know what it meant. (Can't remember that either--sorry!)
>>
>> Candice
>>
>>
>>
>> on 8/5/01 9:14 PM, Robin Hamilton at [log in to unmask] wrote:
>>
>> > Matthew:
>> >
>> >> 'Snell' is a
>> >> new word on me.
>> >
>> > Cold, bitter, chill -- like the wind that cuts Villon to the bone at the
> > > beginning of _The Testament_.
> > >
> > > Robin
--
|