Sevvy Question

[Judy]

[Judy Serenity wakes up from hibernation, pokes head out of burrow]

Snape?  Snape?  Did I hear people discussing Snape?

Neri said that Severus Snape might mean:
> Severe: strict in judgment, discipline, or government. Strongly
> critical or condemnatory. Inflicting physical discomfort or 
> hardship.
> Snap: to utter sharp biting words: bark out irritable or peevish
> retorts.
> But there might also be an alternative, more sneaky meaning:
> Sever: to remove (as a part) by or as if by cutting.

When I read the books, I mentally pronounced his name as "sever-us".  
Then I saw the movies, where it was pronounced "severe-us."  This 
favors the "severe" reading, although of course the movies aren't 
canon. 

I hadn't considered the "sever-snap" connection.  Interesting...

Sigune said:
>>Snape moved from 'Irritatingly Clichéd Bad Guy' (yes, sorry,
that's 
how I felt, reading PS) to 'Harsh Victorian Schoolmaster' between 
beginning and end of Book One.<<

Oh, I think JKR deliberately made Snape seem like an 'Irritatingly 
Clichéd Bad Guy' -- the better to fool us when it turns out he
wasn't 
the bad guy at all. One of JKR's beloved red herrings! It wasn't even 
Snape who made Harry's scar hurt at the welcoming dinner.  

Sigune said she was "fervently praying that LOLLIPOPS won't come true"

What?!?  I'm completely convinced of LOLLIPOPS.  I proposed its 
unappealing variant, "Too EEW to be true." 

[Judy Serenity turns to go back to burrow and sees her shadow.  
Drats!  6 more weeks of winter!]

-- Judy, from chilly Michigan, where we don't bother much with 
groundhogs' day because any groundhog that left its burrow in early 
February would likely freeze to death