Sirius and Remus (was : Re: Use of Hagrid's name - More names)

[ellendvlmaas]

No: HPFGUIDX 98112

Geoff Bannister wrote:

I presume you mean why did they call Sirius Snuffles? I have always
assumed it's because, in his Animagus form, he is a dog.

Then Jem wrote:

And this dog has allergies/trouble breathing? I'm sorry. I just don't
understand the appellation as it might apply to a dog or to Sirius or
the dog star. Everything else makes so much sense but this one 
eludes me.

And Jem also wrote:
The first definition of snuffle in the Oxford English Dictionary is 
akin to sniffing in disdain.  I think that fits Sirius' personality 
fairly well.


Now Ellen:

I looked up "snuffle" in the Merriam-Webster on-line Dictionary. It 
says in the first definition:

1 : to snuff or sniff usually audibly and repeatedly

Looking up "snuff", part of the second definition says:

2 b : b (chiefly Scottish) : HUFF [JK lives in Scotland, right?]

I looked up "huff" and it says some very interesting things that 
describe Sirius pretty well:

(intransitive sense)
2 a : to make empty threats : BLUSTER b : to react or behave 
indignantly <huffed off in anger>

(transitive sense)
1 : to puff up : INFLATE
2 archaic : to treat with contempt : BULLY [Think: Kreacher]
3 : to make angry
4 : to utter with indignation or scorn

It looks to me like his code name was a clue to what he was to 
become.

Ellen