|
Reader question: Please explain “snob appeal” in the following passage: If you want to go here for its snob appeal, just order low on the menu. Spend all your money on drinks if you’re just looking to have a good time, but not looking to break the bank. If you come here and go all out, you will be broke. My comments: Thanks to ample context, we know they’re talking about an expensive restaurant here, a restaurant people sometimes go to for its “snob appeal”. In other words, they may not come here just to eat, but also to be seen – because a lot of people who are somebody are often seen here. Movie stars, for instance, well-heeled professionals and rich people in general often dine here. That’s what the “appeal” is about. Appeal, noun, refers to the attractiveness of someone or something, the quality that makes you like them, be interested in them, and want them. Snob appeal? Literally that means it appeals to snobs. Snobs, of course, are people who are snobbish, originally people from a higher social class who think they are better than those from lower classes. Snobs also refer to those who admire and look up to people from a higher social class. We all have some degree of snobbery in us, and this feeling sometimes runs out of control. It is what drives us to always want to keep up with the Joneses, so to speak. | 
