Dipping Tobacco - Etymology and Terminology

Etymology and Terminology

Dipping tobacco was first popularized and marketed as moist snuff in the 1800s. The term "snuff" in this context is an English cognate of the aforementioned "snus", from the Swedish. Dipping tobacco's Scandinavian roots impart a noticeable legacy on modern American brands such as Copenhagen (the capital city of Denmark) and Skoal (referring to the interlinguistic term skål, which in Norwegian, Danish and Swedish roughly translates to "cheers" or implies a toast).

"Dip" or "dipping tobacco" was first known as such in the 20th century, the phrase referring to the way in which the product is most often essentially dipped into the lower lip. However many brands still advertise themselves as "moist snuff", simply "snuff" or sometimes vaguely as "smokeless tobacco". Packing a large amount of dipping tobacco is commonly referred to as "a fat dip," "horseshoe," or a "ripper."