He was snowing hell out of her

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Then I watched the phonies for a while. Some guy next to me was snowing hell out of the babe he was with. He kept telling her she had aristocractic hands. That killed me. (The Catcher in the Rye)

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I'm guessing 'to snow somebody' means more or less 'to sweet talk' them?

For info, I have never heard this in BrE.

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Originally Posted by emsr2d2

For info, I have never heard this in BrE.

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So I thought, thanks Ems.

If anything, it should be "snowing the hell out of her." Not "snowing hell."

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Originally Posted by SoothingDave

If anything, it should be "snowing the hell out of her." Not "snowing hell."

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Yep, I just went with the book when quoting.

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Holden says, "Some guy next to me was snowing hell out of the babe he was with. He kept telling her she had aristocratic hands. That killed me." Holden, pardon my French, cuts the crap. - source

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AHD defines it as To overwhelm with insincere talk, especially with flattery.
Dictionary - Yahoo! Education

I am not sure that it is the same as a snow job, as that term is said to come from 2006- a reference to the White House spokesman of the time, Tony Snow, who supposedly gave inaccurate and evasive answers.

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Originally Posted by Tdol

I am not sure that it is the same as a snow job, as that term is said to come from 2006- a reference to the White House spokesman of the time, Tony Snow, who supposedly gave inaccurate and evasive answers.

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I heard that expression for the first time in 1971.

Can you remember the context? Did it have the same meaning as today? Did Mr Snow merely breathe new life into the phrase. :up:

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Originally Posted by Tdol

Can you remember the context? Did it have the same meaning as today? Did Mr Snow merely breathe new life into the phrase. :up:

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For some strange reason, I remember it exactly. I was one of a group of expat teachers working at a college in Turkey. We frequently had cause to complain to the Director about our working conditions, and she was a dab hand at coming up with excuses and justifications that kept us happy - until after we had left her office. After such an experience, teachers would come back to their colleagues with some words such as "Another snow job".