Snark

Who uses it: Urban hipsters (yeah, like me)
What it means: A derisive comment -- apparently, the word is a contraction for "snide remark."
How to use it: To describe my usual running commentary.

I didn't think of this as a Term of Art, but Anna hadn't heard it before. "Maybe it's a big city thing," she said. I used it yesterday afternoon:

"It's fashionable to snark on Starbucks, but I like it," I said to her, as we carried our coffees out of a Starbucks on Exchange Street in Portland. "They provide a public service."

"How so?" Anna asked.

"They're gathering places," I said. "They're nice places where you can just sit and read a paper and listen to good music."

That said, the Old Port has a better coffeehouse right down the street from that Starbucks -- JavaNet, an Internet cafe that has a much warmer, friendlier atmosphere and a far better selection of newspapers. But JavaNet is a place to hang out for half an hour or more, and Anna and I were in a hurry to pick up Ashton.

"How long has it been since you had a slumber party for your birthday?" Anna asked Ashton, because Dizzy and I spent the night at the Bragdons' too. Tonight they're off to the Black Point Inn, to celebrate their wedding anniversary, and Ashton will come to Gardiner with me. Tonight I think we'll do the Gardiner Pub Crawl, which I had put off doing until I had company. (Yes, Gardiner has enough night spots for a pub crawl... I'll report back tomorrow.)