July 12, 1996

snuff

Why is something "up to snuff" when it's OK?

It's hard to say exactly; the semantic explanation for phrases is often difficult to determine. The phrase up to snuff, meaning 'up to a certain standard; satisfactory', or in British English 'shrewd; sharp; knowing', dates to the early nineteenth century. One possible explanation is simply that snuff, then extremely popular, was considered a standard in its own right. Someone or something "up to snuff" was sophisticated, participating in a common ritual of society. The problem with this interpretation is that "snuff" was also used at the time to denote something of small value, as in "not worth a snuff" or "don't care a snuff." It is possible that the same word could refer to something of high value and of low value, but it makes the argument more difficult.

Another suggestion is that it's connected to other "smell" expressions implying perception of discernment, such as "to smell out" as situation, or "to be on the right scent." This would attach "up to snuff" to the verb meaning 'to inhale' rather than the noun. A factor in favor of this argument is that almost all the early examples refer to people, so an early sense of 'discerning' could be followed by a later broadening to a figurative use meaning '(of anything) satisfactory'.

Snuff itself refers either to powdered tobacco that's inhaled through the nose (the usual meaning) or to what we call "chewing tobacco." It is a seventeenth-century borrowing from Dutch snuiftabak 'tobacco for snuffing'.