{"id":2152,"date":"2022-02-28T20:23:25","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T20:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=2152"},"modified":"2022-02-28T20:23:25","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T20:23:25","slug":"no-step-on-snek-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/no-step-on-snek-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"No Step on Snek \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did someone just send you the meme of a hand-drawn snake with the caption, \"no step on snek<\/em>?\" What are they trying to tell you? This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this proverb.<\/p>\n

Meaning<\/h2>\n

\"No step on snek<\/em>\" is a rendition of the saying, \"Don't tread on me<\/em>.\" Don't tread on me is a common caption used on the \"Gadsden Flag<\/em>.\" However, the original flag has an artistic rendition of the coiled rattlesnake. The original meme of \"no step on snek<\/em>\" features a crudely drawn snake that looks like it comes from a kid.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Benjamin Franklin<\/em> said the rattlesnake never backed down from provocation, capturing \"the temper and conduct of America<\/em>.\" The original use of \"tread<\/em>\" in the caption of the Gadsden flag means \"stay away<\/em>\" or \u201cleave me alone<\/em>.\u201d It refers to how government should not interfere in sovereign freedoms.<\/p>\n

Right-wing affiliations adopted the saying as a motto in 2015, after the election of Donald Trump, as a sign of the resistance to the left-wing. However, the recent reiteration of the phrase is often used as an insult to right-wingers, claiming they are uneducated or stupid.<\/p>\n

Example Usage<\/h2>\n

\"A pedo was harassing me on VR Chat. I tried to tell him no step on snek. He went after me anyway, so I crashed his machine.\"<\/p>\n

\"The Canadian government is calling truckers terrorists. They keep telling them no step on snek.\"<\/p>\n

\"The Oath Keepers might as well adopt no step on snek as their symbol for their organization.\"<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, no step on snek, okay? I've had enough of you guys pushing me around in this chatroom.\"<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

Origin<\/h2>\n

The origin of the proverb, \"no step on snek<\/em>,\" comes from the Gadsden Flag. The flag is a symbol of the civil war. After reading Benjamin Franklin's political cartoons featuring dismembered snakes, Christopher Gadsden ordered flags with the coiled rattlesnake design.<\/p>\n

During 2015, a comic version of the flag surfaced featuring the badly-drawn coiled snake and the caption \"No step on snek<\/em>.\" Some people suggest that some parents' kids drawing they made at school went viral online.<\/p>\n

However, it became a popular symbol for right-wingers. At the same time, some leftists would post the meme to mock the supposed \"low IQ<\/em>\" of right-wingers and how their work looks like an uneducated person or a child.<\/p>\n