Editing Snob (section)

== Examples ==

Snobs can through time be found ingratiating themselves with a range of prominent groups – soldiers ([[Sparta]], 400 BCE), bishops (Rome, 1500), poets (Weimar, 1815) – for the primary interest of snobs is distinction, and as its definition changes, so, naturally and immediately, will the objects of the snob's admiration.<ref name= "debotton" />

Snobbery existed also in medieval feudal [[aristocrat]]ic Europe when the clothing, manners, language, and tastes of every class were strictly codified by customs or law. [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], a poet moving in the court circles, noted the provincial French spoken by the [[Prioress]] among the [[Canterbury Tales|Canterbury pilgrims]]:
<blockquote>
And French she spoke full fair and fetisly<br>
After the school of Stratford atte Bowe,<br>
For French of Paris was to her unknowe.
</blockquote>

William Rothwell notes "the simplistic contrast between the 'pure' French of Paris and her 'defective' French of Stratford atte Bowe that would invite disparagement".<ref>Rothwell, "Stratford Atte Bowe re-visited" ''The Chaucer Review'', 2001.</ref>

Snobbery surfaced more strongly as the structure of the society changed, and the [[bourgeoisie]] had the possibility to ''imitate'' [[aristocracy]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gartman |first=David |date=2002 |title=Bourdieu's Theory of Cultural Change: Explication, Application, Critique |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3108649 |journal=Sociological Theory |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=255–277 |doi=10.1111/1467-9558.00162 |jstor=3108649 |issn=0735-2751|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Snobbery appears when elements of culture are perceived as belonging to an aristocracy or elite, and some people (the snobs) feel that the mere adoption of the fashion and tastes of the elite or aristocracy is sufficient to include someone in the elites, upper classes or aristocracy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Friedman |first1=Sam |last2=Reeves |first2=Aaron |date=April 2020 |title=From Aristocratic to Ordinary: Shifting Modes of Elite Distinction |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0003122420912941 |journal=American Sociological Review |language=en |volume=85 |issue=2 |pages=323–350 |doi=10.1177/0003122420912941 |issn=0003-1224}}</ref>