"Euro culture snub"

... and similar phrases using the word 'snub' or 'snubbed', appeared recently as part of some headlines and articles in UK newspapers in November and December 2017. 

These headlines revolved around the point that UK cities would no longer be eligible to enter for the competition to be 'European Capital of Culture' – which is an obvious corollary of leaving the EU, though possibly to some who voted Leave, an upsetting and unintended consequence. For example, the cities of Belfast, Derry/Londonderry and Dundee will all have their bids to be European Capital of Culture scuppered by the fallout from Brexit. When a city gains this status, it also gains millions of pounds / euros of investment and tourist income, so it is far more than just a title: it's extremely valuable. It's a really big deal.

One newspaper that used the word 'snub' was the Dundee Evening Telegraph: "Dundee 2023 snub: we're absolutely gutted about this, it's like we've been jilted at the altar."* With this colourful simile to round it off, it's quite a dramatic headline!

"Belfast and Derry councils urge Westminster to fight EU on culture snub" was another headline, Dec 1st, 2017 in the Belfast Telegraph. **

I noticed this use of the word 'snub' in this European Capital of Culture contest, and thought it was interesting how one word – in this case ‘snub’– can say so much. It suggests disrespect, an insult – it suggests a kind of wrong has been perpetrated on the one ‘snubbed’, in this case on whole cities of people. 

Well, the UK is exiting the EU, by its (i.e. the UK's) own volition, and therefore is exiting all parts of the EU club, including the arts / cultural part. That, surely, stands to reason.

So who is snubbing who? The newspapers were claiming, by the use of this one small word, that the UK is somehow being treated with disrespect – and, implicitly, unfairly. The UK is leaving the EU – but the newspapers couldn’t resist putting a 'spin' on this story by suggesting the EU is treating the UK badly in no longer allowing the UK to take part in the European City of Culture scheme.

Yet the UK is turning its back on the EU. Surely the 'snub' is therefore the other way round?

Perhaps the European Capital of Culture scheme is the ‘cake’ that some British politicians claimed we could still ‘have’ after ‘eating’ it...?

It's fascinating how one small word can suggest so much.

to snub someone: verb (T) to insult someone by not giving them any attention or treating them as if they are not important.

Eg. I think she felt snubbed because Anthony hadn’t bothered to introduce himself.

Or used as a noun: eg. I simply didn’t recognise her and apparently she took it as a snub.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/snub  (accessed 15.01.2018)

snub etymology: Middle English snibben, snubben, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse snubba to scold, Swedish dialect snubba to reproach, cut off

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snub (accessed 15.01.2018)

I like this snippet of information: that in the use of the phrase 'snub-nosed' the connecting notion is of being cut short:

adj.   "short and turned up," 1725, in snub-nosed, from snub (v.)

snub (n) "a rebuke, an intentional slight," 1530s, from snub (v.).

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/snub  (accessed 15.01.2018, Online Etymological Dictionary, 2010 Douglas Harper)

put a spin on something

Spin: singular noun. If someone puts a certain spin on an event or situation, they interpret it and try to present it in a particular way [informal]

Eg. He interpreted the vote as support for the constitution and that is the spin his supporters are putting on the results today.

...the wholly improper political spin given to the report, particularly by The New York Times.

Synonyms: bias, prejudice, slant, turn

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/spin (accessed 15.01.2018)

* https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/dundee-2023-snub-absolutely-gutted-like-weve-jilted-altar/ (accessed 15.01.2018)

** https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/northern-ireland/belfast-and-derry-councils-urge-westminster-to-fight-eu-on-culture-snub-36368336.html (accessed 15.01.2018)