adjective impatient; argumentative. Originally used in the UK to mean 'parsimonious' (C18), and then in the US (C19) in the current sense. The term enjoyed a brief moment of fame in the early morning hours of 9th November 2000, when US Vice President Al Gore told future President George Bush, 'You don't have to get snippy with me' as he retracted a concession made several minutes earlier US, 1848