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Snag vs Shag - What's the difference?

snag | shag |

In slang|lang=en terms the difference between snag and shag

is that snag is (slang) to obtain or pick up (something) while shag is (slang) a casual sexual partner.

As nouns the difference between snag and shag

is that snag is a stump or base of a branch that has been lopped off; a short branch, or a sharp or rough branch; a knot; a protuberance or snag can be (uk|dialect|obsolete) a light meal or snag can be a misnaged, an opponent to chassidic judaism (more likely modern, for cultural reasons) while shag is matted material; rough massed hair, fibres etc or shag can be several species of sea birds in the family phalacrocoracidae (cormorant family), especially the , phalacrocorax aristotelis , found on european and african coasts or shag can be a swing dance or shag can be (canada|northwestern ontario) a fundraising dance in honour of a couple engaged to be married.

As verbs the difference between snag and shag

is that snag is to catch or tear (eg fabric) upon a rough surface or projection while shag is to make hairy or shaggy; to roughen or shag can be to shake, wiggle around.

As an adjective shag is

(obsolete) hairy; shaggy.

snag

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) .

Noun

(en noun)
  • A stump or base of a branch that has been lopped off; a short branch, or a sharp or rough branch; a knot; a protuberance.
  • * Dryden
  • The coat of arms / Now on a naked snag in triumph borne.
  • Any sharp protuberant part of an object, which may catch, scratch, or tear other objects brought into contact with it.
  • A tooth projecting beyond the rest; a broken or decayed tooth.
  • (Prior)
  • A tree, or a branch of a tree, fixed in the bottom of a river or other navigable water, and rising nearly or quite to the surface, by which boats are sometimes pierced and sunk.
  • (figuratively) A problem or difficulty with something.
  • *
  • A pulled thread or yarn, as in cloth.
  • One of the secondary branches of an antler.
  • Synonyms
    * (problem or difficulty) hitch
    Derived terms
    * snaggy * snaglike

    Verb

    (snagg)
  • To catch or tear (e.g. fabric) upon a rough surface or projection.
  • Be careful not to snag your stockings on that concrete bench!
  • (fishing) To fish by means of dragging a large hook or hooks on a line, intending to impale the body (rather than the mouth) of the target.
  • We snagged for spoonbill from the eastern shore of the Mississippi river.
  • (slang) To obtain or pick up (something).
  • Ella snagged a bottle of water from the fridge before leaving for her jog.
  • (UK, dialect) To cut the snags or branches from, as the stem of a tree; to hew roughly.
  • (Halliwell)

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (UK, dialect, obsolete) A light meal.
  • (Australia, informal, colloquial) A sausage.
  • * 2005 , Peter Docker, Someone Else?s Country , 2010, ReadHowYouWant, page 116,
  • I fire up the barbie and start cooking snags .
  • * 2007 , Jim Ford, Don't Worry, Be Happy: Beijing to Bombay with a Backpack , page 196,
  • ‘You can get the chooks and snags from the fridge if you want,’ he replied.
    I smiled, remembering my bewilderment upon receiving exactly the same command at my very first barbecue back in Sydney a month after I?d first arrived.
  • * 2010 , Fiona Wallace, Sense and Celebrity , page 25,
  • ‘Hungry? We?ve got plenty of roo,’ one of the men said as she walked up. He pointed with his spatula, ‘and pig snags', cow ' snags , beef and chicken.’
    Synonyms
    * (sausage) banger (qualifier)

    Etymology 3

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A misnaged, an opponent to Chassidic Judaism (more likely modern, for cultural reasons).
  • Anagrams

    * (l) * (l) * (l) * (l) ----

    shag

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) ), from Old Norse skaga, to protrude.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Matted material; rough massed hair, fibres etc.
  • * (John Gay)
  • true Witney broadcloth, with its shag unshorn
  • Coarse shredded tobacco.
  • * 1978 , (Lawrence Durrell), Livia'', Faber & Faber 1992 (''Avignon Quintet ), p. 535:
  • He was rather unshaven as well and smelt strongly of shag .
  • A type of rough carpet pile.
  • Derived terms
    * shaggy * shagginess * shaggy-dog story * shagger

    Verb

    (shagg)
  • To make hairy or shaggy; to roughen.
  • * J. Barlow
  • Shag the green zone that bounds the boreal skies.

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) hairy; shaggy
  • (Shakespeare)

    Etymology 2

    (Common Shag) Perhaps a derivative of Etymology 1, above, with reference to the bird's shaggy crest.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Several species of sea birds in the family Phalacrocoracidae (cormorant family), especially the , Phalacrocorax aristotelis , found on European and African coasts.
  • *1941 , (Ernestine Hill), My Love Must Wait , A&R Classics 2013, p. 7:
  • *:He ran back and picked up a dead bird that had fallen. It was not a duck but a shag .
  • Derived terms
    * Auckland shag () * Bounty shag () * Campbell shag () * Chatham shag () * Heard shag () * imperial shag () * Kerguelen shag () * king shag () * Macquarie shag () * Stewart Island shag ()

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) caused the analogical replacement of the stem-final voiceless geminate consonants with voiced geminates, which was then leveled throughout the paradigm.

    Verb

    (shagg)
  • To shake, wiggle around.
  • To have sexual intercourse with.
  • To masturbate.
  • To chase after; especially, to chase after and return (a ball) hit usually out of play
  • * {{quote-book
  • , year=1974 , year_published=1999 , edition=paperback , editor= , author=Robert M. Pirsig , title=Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance , chapter= , url= , genre= , publisher=Harper Torch , isbn=9780060589462 , page=77 , passage=Chris is off somewhere in the darkness, but I'm not going to shag after him. }}
  • To perform the dance called the shag.
  • Noun

    (en noun)
  • A swing dance.
  • (slang) An act of sexual intercourse.
  • * 2007 , Julie Andrews, "Roman Must Die", in The Leonard Variations: Clarion 2007 San Diego , ISBN 9787774574500, page 10:
  • They were in the midst of an intense snog, his tongue down her throat as he tried to work out if he wanted another shag before she left for the night, when an odd noise sounded from behind the door of 2B.
  • * 2010 , Clara Darling, Hot City Nights , St. Martin's Press (2010), ISBN 9780312536954, page 107:
  • “And feel free to come over anytime you'd like a drink and a shag .
  • * 2011 , Josephine Myles, Barging In , Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (2011), ISBN 9781609285920, page 24:
  • He could say yes, then just quietly leave the area without ever seeing the man again. He could even get a shag out of Charles first.
  • (slang) A casual sexual partner.
  • * 2003 , Freya North, Pip , Harper (2003), ISBN 9780007462254, unnumbered page:
  • 'It turned out that it was me who was just a shag to him . He had a girlfriend I didn't know about. He presumed I was up for some no-strings action. And the thing is, I thought I was – in theory. But in practice, I realized that I wasn't.'
  • * 2008 , Bruce Cooke, Trace Elements , Eternal Press (2008), ISBN 9781897559369, page 56:
  • "Was I just another shag to you, Trace? Someone to bed when the offer came?"
  • * 2011 , Wes Lee, "Saul", in The Sleepers Almanac, No. 7 (eds. Zoe Dattner & Louise Swinn), Sleepers Publishing (2011), ISBN 9781742702995, page 135:
  • 'Your favourite shag ?' I ask her.
    'Martin Kershen.'
    'He was a sexy beast.'
    Synonyms
    * (casual sexual partner) see also .

    Etymology 4

    Blend of .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Canada, Northwestern Ontario) A fundraising dance in honour of a couple engaged to be married.
  • Synonyms
    * stag and doe, stag and doe party (qualifier) * social, wedding social (qualifier)

    References

    *

    Anagrams

    * gash * hags