Snipe hunt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Common snipe

A snipe hunt is a type of practical joke that involves experienced people making fun of credulous newcomers by giving them an impossible or imaginary task.[1] The snipe hunt may be assigned to a target as part of a process of hazing.

A snipe hunt is a specific type of "wild-goose chase", where a person embarks on an impossible search. Where a wild-goose chase may be accidental, a snipe hunt is always initiated by a second person, as a prank.[2]

Etymology

The origin of the term is a practical joke where inexperienced campers are told about a bird or animal called the snipe as well as a usually preposterous method of catching it, such as running around the woods carrying a bag or making strange noises such as banging rocks together.[1] Real snipe (a family of shorebirds) are difficult to catch for experienced hunters, so much so that the word "sniper" is derived from it to refer to anyone skilled enough to shoot one.[3]

Examples

  • In the pizza-making business, newcomers are told to look in the fridge for the dough repair kit.[4]
  • Another variation includes being sent to procure a "big weight" or "long stand", the idea being that the dupe will reach the shop (or equivalent source of the mythical object) and place the request. The target is then left waiting by the shop keeper (who is presumably familiar with the trick) and thus receives a big wait.[5]
  • Other common restaurant practical jokes include sending the new employee to another restaurant to borrow the "bacon stretcher", or a can of steam.[6][7]
  • In construction, a "left handed screwdriver", "board stretcher", "eye measures", "hammer grease", "wall expander", "glass hammer", "striped paint", or "box of assorted knots" are the analogous pranks.[8]
  • In the U.S. Navy, sending a new sailor after "red lamp oil for the port running light" and "green lamp oil for the starboard running light" are similar pranks.[9] Another example is to send the naive on a search for a "spool of water line".
  • In U.S. Army Airborne units, sending a new trooper after "riser grease", "canopy lights", or "a bucket of prop wash" are common.
  • In the Canadian military, a common joke is tasking a new soldier to find a "brass magnet" to ease the collection of spent ammunition casings.[10]
  • In the US Marine Corps, sending a younger Marine such as a Private or Private First Class to get the keys to the HUMVEE (They do not require keys.)
  • A common thing is to require an ID10T form to be filled out for a government form with the military or taxes. The unsuspecting person will ask be asked to write down the form and go ask someone for it.[11]
  • In Boy Scouts, sending a new camper after a "Left Handed Smoke Shifter" is a similar practice.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Palmatier, Robert Allen. Speaking of Animals: A Dictionary of Animal Metaphors. Greenwood Publishing. p. 375. ISBN 0313294909. 
  2. ↑ Paris, Leslie (2008). Children's Nature: The Rise of the American Summer Camp. NYU Press. p. 104. ISBN 0814767508. 
  3. ↑ Etymonline.com – snipe
  4. ↑ Aman, Reinhold (1996). Maledicta, Volume 12. Maledicta Press. p. 11. 
  5. ↑ Humphries, Vaughan (2008). Grumpy Young Man: The Incoherent Mutterings of a Humanitarian Misanthrope. AuthorHouse. p. 393. ISBN 1467899437. 
  6. ↑ Josefowitz, Natasha (1988). Fitting in: how to get a good start in your new job (illustrated ed.). Addison-Wesley. p. 32. ISBN 0201116537. 
  7. ↑ Cameron, Kim S. (2011). The Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship (illustrated ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 482. ISBN 0199734615. 
  8. ↑ Paap, Kris (2006). Working Construction: Why White Working-Class Men Put Themselves—and the Labor Movement—in Harm's Way (illustrated ed.). Cornell University Press. p. 69. ISBN 0801472865. 
  9. ↑ Cutler, Deborah (2005). Dictionary of Naval Terms (illustrated ed.). Naval Institute Press. p. 182. ISBN 1-59114-150-8. 
  10. ↑ The Electrical Journal. Benn Bros. 1916. p. 51. Retrieved 27 July 2013. 
  11. ↑ Joey D. Ossian (4 February 2004). A Marine's Lapse in Synapse: Part Ii: More Unbelievable, But True Short Stories. AuthorHouse. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-4140-4945-8. 
  12. ↑ Rich, Alvin (1984). The History of the BSA. Aramco Press. p. 87. 

Further reading

External links

Look up snipe hunt in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.