This past summer, a friend of mine was engaged in a casual relationship with a rather philosophical and balding Middle Eastern man. He had the demeanour of Woody Allen and could often be found watching lengthy foreign films or meandering around obscure art exhibits.
One evening, he called her to come over to his place at quite a late hour, leading us to believe that this was most certainly a “booty call.” She excitedly skipped over to his apartment, prepared for a lovely unexpected romp. Once there, however, he explained that he had called her because he had just watched a six-hour Hungarian documentary, and expressed the need to share his thoughts on it with someone.
This prompted me to coin the term “snooty call.”
Convinced this was a brilliant addition to the canon of English colloquialisms, I decided to submit a formal definition of it to Urban Dictionary so that the world could share in its usage:
Snooty Call
n. Alternative to “booty call”; a late night call from a lover for the purpose of intellectual conversation (rather than sexual relations).
Eg. He called me at 2am to come over and discuss a six-hour Hungarian documentary he watched — such a snooty call.
Shortly after submitting my entry, I received an email of rejection. I was appalled, obviously, but accepted the rejection as a challenge to continue my efforts of getting a word into the dictionary.
When I looked further into how words actually get into the dictionary, I found out that the process operates by public vote. I then became an Urban Dictionary editor myself (a very credible resume item) and started voting on different definitions. I voted for the inclusion of “mewp,” a noun referring to throwing up in one’s mouth, and “on the same banana peel,” an alternative to “on the same page” with the alternative meaning of “being bad at Mario Kart.” I rejected “blanch,” a verb meaning “to throw up,” brought to you by the same person who came up with “mewp,” which offered the example, “At first I thought I was only going to mewp, but then I totally blanched.”
I also researched what sorts of words make it into Urban Dictionary. It seemed that there are two categories for what gets published on this bastion of human intelligence: either extremely silly and stupid ideas, or clever but ultimately stupid ideas. “Farte Blanche” was added on August 24, meaning “permission to fart freely,” exemplifying the second group.
In discussion with Science Editor, Katie Vogan, she encouraged me to try once again with the term “snooty call.” She felt it had potential. We adjusted the definition using the principles of virality to appeal to the lowest common denominator. In other words, we dumbed it down:
Notice the elimination of details and capital letters. We simplified the definition and example for mass relatability, and tried to make the example less seemingly “stuck-up.” We also changed the specificity of the initial example to achieve broader appeal. After a few minutes of tense waiting, our experiment paid off, and I received an email notifying me that “snooty call” was published in Urban Dictionary. You can now purchase mugs, t-shirts, and mouse pads featuring my original term and its accompanying definition, with the official Urban Dictionary logo certification on them.
It is a great honour and achievement, which I will certainly add to my resume, to have my witty turn of phrase among the ranks of “masturbathe” (touching oneself in the bathtub), “vurp” (a burp laced with vomit), and “clam jam” (“the female equivalent of cock block”), in Urban Dictionary — an infinite well of vernacular gems.
