Modern Day Definition Of Snivelling

The word snuffles is synonymous with the action of sniffling and snivelling, meaning the sharp intake of breath or mucous which results in an audible sound. This word is supposedly not a commonly known English word, and is often replaced by its more common synonym “sniffling”. Originating from the Dutch word “snuffelen”, the word originally meant “to sniff about, pry”, which is similar to its modern day definition. To be more specific, the modern day definition of the term snuffling refers specifically to actions related to the nose. For example, the action of loudly inhaling, or sucking up mucous after a hearty session of crying. In literature, it is often used in context with a messy, clumsy manner of crying or sniffing. As well, in several poetic pieces, the term snuffle is used to signify a muffled tone, as though the author is indicating the object in reference is seen through a plugged nose, …show more content…
Upon initially reading the passage, I could clearly hear the soft pants and sniffs of the small dogs within the enclosed elevator space. The image painted in my head was of a dog walker, with their large entourage of small city puppies, and the condensation forming on the mirrors as a result of their collective panting. The excitement of the small trembling dogs can be felt in the closed off space, as the adorable sounds of wet noses quietly snuffling engulfs the elevator space. This image was one of the more powerful ones I envisioned while reading this poem, as my personal love for dogs allowed the author’s depiction to become much more realistic for me. Especially upon the word snuffling, which I felt to be an extremely perfect fit for the scenario, the sense of realism and sarcastic bitterness truly resonated with me as a reader. The use of the soft, clumsy sounding word snuffling juxtaposed with the noun garbage really added to the image of the drooling, slow