Podsnap moment
- noun
- Literature
:
momento Podsnap
- During the interview, the politician had a real Podsnap moment, dismissing any criticism without a second thought.
Examples
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She experienced a Podsnap moment when she ignored the facts.
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She recognized her own Podsnap moment only after her friends pointed out her lack of understanding.
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Literary critics often refer to a Podsnap moment when discussing characters blinded by their own self-righteousness.
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That was a classic Podsnap moment for him!
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The CEO had a noticeable Podsnap moment, ignoring the employees' concerns about job security.
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In his Podsnap moment, he confidently claimed his approach was the only correct way to solve the problem.
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When she refused to listen to opposing views, it was clear she was having a Podsnap moment.
Antonyms
How Smug
Surface Forms
Morphology
Podsnap + moment
The meaning depends on a literary reference to the character 'Podsnap' (a proper name) rather than on compositional semantics of its parts; knowing 'moment' does not help a B1 learner infer 'smug self-satisfaction' because 'Podsnap' is not a transparent lexical item. This usage is culture- and context-specific and requires prior exposure to Dickensian reference, so it is unpredictable cross-linguistically and opaque to learners.
Etymology
Podsnap moment comes from the character Podsnap in Charles Dickens' book 'Our Mutual Friend', who acted proud and often ignored other people's views. So a Podsnap moment means a time of 'being too sure of yourself' or 'refusing to listen' to others.