In Praise of Snarks and Boojums

O.K., O.K. the opposite of Snark is Shrill and I confess to shrillness in the last few days.


This is a Snark missile. I guess I remember it from my childhood (1958):

The Snark, originally designated as the B-62, was an interim-type, air breathing intercontinental weapon produced during the period when intercontinental ballistic missiles were still being perfected. It carried a nuclear warhead and was launched from a mobile platform by two booster rocket engines. These propelled the Snark to flying speed in four seconds, at which time they were jettisoned and the missile continued in flight, powered by its internal jet engine.

..snip..

The first Snark operational unit was activated by the Strategic Air Command in 1958 at Presque Isle AFB, Maine.

I never remember Eisenhower planning to use it, but I guess he did since it was in the arsenal.

Many of us know "snark" from Lewis Caroll, "The Hunting of the Snark"

"Just the place for a Snark!" the Bellman cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair.

...snip...

"For, although common Snarks do no manner of harm,
Yet, I feel it my duty to say,
Some are Boojums" "The Bellman broke off in alarm,
For the Baker had fainted away.

I sort of like this curmudgeonly description:

I find it fascinating that this is associated with what I think of "snark." Wikipedia agrees with this blurb saying it is:

Snark refers to a pejorative style of speech or writing. It could loosely be described as irritable or "snidely derisive"; hence, 'snarkish', 'snarky', 'to snark at somebody'. (The Urban Dictionary refers to it as a contraction of "snide remark".)

I've always thought of snark less irritable and more snide. But, there you are.

Of course there is also:
The word snark may refer to:

Snark, a type of graph
Snark, a discount variety of small sailboat.
MV The Second Snark, a shipyard tug and tender that is still in service
Corporal Snark, a minor character in Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22
Snark, in computer jargon a system failure; see also snivitz
Snark, a style of speech/writing that could loosely be described as "snidely derisive"
Snark, a small, imaginary bug-like species of alien used as a weapon in the computer game Half-Life
Snark, an early 1970s text-based computer game from People's Computer Company
Snark, a tradename for an early single-hose diving regulator

I think I like the minor character in Catch-22. In fact, I wouldn't that be a great epitaph: