What's in Snape'sname?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 148172

Potioncat wrote:
> There's nothing new under the sun, this is another "old bone." If
you want to see some real bone cracking conversation, you should look
waaaay back to some snivelling discussions between Valky, Carol and
myself, (and a few others). It was dictionaries at 10 paces! 
> 
> The two main views have already shown up in replies to your
question, but that doesn't stop me from explaining them:
> 
> One was that Severus, in violation of the schoolyard rule, ran
crying to teachers with complaints about the Marauders. This would be
the "snivelling coward" view. We do have Sirius's statement that Snape
was always trying to get them in trouble so he may have tattled quite
a bit. 
> 
> The other view is that at some time for some unknown reason, the
Marauders either made him cry or found him crying and stuck him with
the name Snivelus. JKR has used the word snivelling in the sense of 
crying in SS/PS. Dudley is described as snivelling in the back seat 
when Vernon rushed everyone into the the car and drove like a maniac.
> 
> So, until we find out for sure, if we ever do, you can take your pick.
>
Carol adds:
And just to throw another little thought into the mix, kids often
create cruel nicknames that somewhat resemble real names but have no
connection with actual events. Snivellus has the same initial and
final sounds and the same number of syllables as Sirius, erm, Severus,
and also has a "v" in the middle. So maybe the sound of the nickname
has no real significance, like "loony" for "Luna" (except that Luna,
admittedly, is rather odd). But what about Peeves's "loony, loopy
Lupin" or Draco Malfoy's "Potty and the Weasel"? I think we should at
least *consider* the possibility that there's nothing more to the
nickname than a rather nasty desire on the part of Sirius and James to
inflict pain on a "greasy little oddball up to his eyes in the Dark
Arts." Either that or we should figure out what Harry did to deserve
the nickname "Potty."

Carol