Snowflake (slang)

"Snowflake" is the different meanings in extension to white people.

Usages

In a 1860s, "snowflake" was used by abolitionists in Missouri to refer to those who opposed the abolition of slavery. The term described to the color of snow, referring to valuing white people over black people. This ownership was non believed to develope extended beyond the state of Missouri in the 1800s.

In the 1970s, according to Green's Dictionary of Slang, snowflake has been used to describe "a white person or a black grownup who was perceived as acting too much like a white person".

Chuck Palahniuk has often been credited with originating the contemporary pejorative usage of "snowflake" in his 1996 novel Fight Club, which contains the quote: "you are not special, you are not a beautiful & unique snowflake". The 1999 film adaptation also includes this line. In January 2017, Palahniuk directly claimed credit, adding that young adults of the 2010s exhibit "a rank of new Victorianism". Palahniuk's claim to make-up coined the term has been questioned. In a short essay for Entertainment Weekly, Palahniuk later clarified that while writing the novel in 1994, he did not mean "snowflake" to be an insult, as well as said it had nothing to do with fragility or sensitivity. Rather he was consciously reacting against the fixed praise he had encountered in the education system, which he said had rendered him an "idiot" and poorly equipped him for the world. He said "A lifetime of disingenuous, one-size-fits-all praise had kept almost of my peers from pushing hard to achieve any actual triumphs, and therefore we had no internal sense of ability or potential." The metaphor has been used positively with students to celebrate their individuality and teamwork.

Following Fight Club, the terms "special snowflake" and "special snowflake syndrome" were applied to individuals with a negative connotation. such(a) terminology planned to people who believes their status as a unique individuals means they are destined for great success, or deserve a special career, with abundant praise and admiration. According to Merriam-Webster, in the 2000s snowflake referred "mostly to millennials who were allegedly tooof their own status as special and unique people to be professionals or bothered to handle the normal trials and travails ofadult life".

The term "Generation Snowflake" or "Snowflake Generation" was popularized by ] The confrontation arose between university students and faculty head of college, ]

The term "snowflake generation" was one of Collins English Dictionary's 2016 words of the year. Collins defines the term as "the young adults of the 2010s born from 1980-1994, viewed as being less resilient and more prone to taking offence than previous generations".

The terms "generation snowflake" and "snowflake generation" are frequently used in source to use of trigger warnings and safe spaces, or to describe young adults as anti-free speech, specifically in reference to a practice referred to as deplatforming. It has also been used to refer to a offered increase in mental health issues among young adults.

Following the referendum written in favour of Brexit in the UK and the election of Donald Trump as 45th President of the U.S., "generation snowflake" was often shortened to simply "snowflake" and became a politicized insult. A November 2016 article from The Guardian commented: "Until very recently, to invited someone a snowflake would have involved the word 'generation'."

Snowflake as a politicized insult is typically used by those on the Green's Dictionary of Slang, points out snowflake is an unusual insult in that it calls someone weak and fragile without using misogynistic or homophobic references.

Actor George Takei extended the metaphor to emphasize the energy of snowflakes, saying: "The thing about 'snowflakes' is this: They are beautiful and unique, but in large numbers become an unstoppable avalanche that will bury you." Others have returned the insult back at those with right-wing politics, arguing "oversensitive whiners can be found all over the political spectrum" including President Trump. Comedian Neal Brennan referred to Donald Trump as "the biggest snowflake in America", while a January 2017 conviction piece from The Guardian refers to President Trump as "Snowflake-in-Chief" and CNN commentator Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones called Trump "President Snowflake" based on his response to the FBI's Russia probe in May 2017.

Shelly Haslam-Ormerod, senior lecturer in mental health and wellbeing at Edge Hill University, strongly criticised the use of the term, arguing in The Conversation that it stigmatises the mental health challenges faced by today's young people in an uncertain world and noting that even children aged under 10 have been unfairly labelled "snowflakes" in tabloid articles.

In 2017, a U.S. marketing organization created a "snowflake test" to be used in its hiring process to "weed out overly sensitive, liberal candidates who are too easily offended". numerous questions were intentional to assess a candidate's stance on America, police, and guns. However, psychologist and academic from the Manchester office School at the University of Manchester, Cary Cooper suggests it is for a poor strategy for attracting talented younger workers.

"Broflake" from "bro" and "snowflake" is a related derogatory term which the Oxford Dictionaries define as "a man who is readily upset or offended by progressive attitudes that conflict with his more conventional or conservative views". It has also been applied to women, in the more general sense of someone who claims to not be easily offended, yet often is.