Peter Aitken a écrit :

> Because the word "snob" has definite connotations of superiority and looking
> down on others.

Actually, food snob is an ad hominem and so does not need to be used in
rational manner. It is usually levelled at someone (the insultee) who
expresses an interest in a particular aspect of food which someone else
(the insulter) finds either irrelevant or that it is an attempt to
"show off" and make evident their own inadequacies.

Once, on an IRC channel, we were discussing cooking and some doofus
came on and called me a fag for even talking about food with women on
line. And he wasn't a Muslim either.

Some people who are severely thin-skinned (remember webtv?) are
offended by the very fact that other post and express interest in
matters that they (the sensitive ones) know nothing about and these
people feel the need to lash out and call others various names in order
to assuage their feelings of inadequacy. Which is not to say they are
inadequate, but they feel that way.

> Caring about food and quality of ingredients is one thing, but being a jerk
> about it is another. Take these two responses to someone who posts about
> making mac and cheese with velveeta:
>
> 1) You tasteless moron, don't you know that velveeta is garbage and you
> should be using aged cheddar?
>
> 2) Have you ever tried aged cheddar instead of velveeta? You might like it a
> lot more.

Both are valid. If responding to Wolfie, the first one even more so ;-)