真的沾到鼻涕，或那種黏滑的手感
這一組最靠近原本的畫面，幾乎沒有離開過那團濕濕黏黏的東西。
adjective · B2
Wet and dirty with mucus from the nose.
沾著鼻涕的
核心畫面
One picture sits under everything snotty does: a small child with a nose that is running, and the wet, sticky mess that comes with it. From that single picture two paths open. Keep the mess itself and you get the literal uses — a snotty nose, a snotty tissue — and then the borrowed feel of it, slippery and soft, for cold eggs or half-dried glue. Keep the child instead, chin up, answering you in two cold words, and you get the attitude use. Nothing has actually come out of anyone's nose there; what survives is the feeling of dealing with someone who is being unpleasant and thinks they are above you.
snotty 可以想成一個畫面：一個小孩，鼻涕流下來，濕濕黏黏擦不乾淨。從這個畫面走兩條路。留下那團髒東西，就是最字…更多收起
snotty 可以想成一個畫面：一個小孩，鼻涕流下來，濕濕黏黏擦不乾淨。從這個畫面走兩條路。留下那團髒東西，就是最字面的用法——鼻子、面紙、袖子；再往前一步，只借它的手感，就能拿去說滑滑黏黏的蛋。留下那個小孩本身——下巴抬著、丟給你兩句冷冷的話——就是罵人態度差的用法。那裡其實沒有鼻涕，留下來的是「這個人很難搞，還自以為高人一等」的感覺。From the word’s history
Wiktionary gives the packet a simple build: snot plus the ending -y, through Old English gesnot and Middle English snot. So the word starts as nothing more than covered in snot, and every later use is that picture being carried somewhere else.
packet 裡的 Wiktionary 說法很單純：snot（鼻涕）加上 -y，往上可以追到古英文 ġesnot、中古英文 snot。所以這個字一開始就只是「沾著鼻涕的」，後來的用法都是把這個畫面搬到別的地方去。
Wiktionary entry supplied in packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1272581392)
Two branches
擺架子、瞧不起人的態度
這一組把畫面裡的「髒東西」換成了畫面裡的「那個小孩」：下巴抬得高高的，回你兩句就走。英文常把難搞又自以為是的人講成 snotty，等於在說他還沒學會怎麼跟人講話。這是概念上的連結，不是歷史上的先後。
adjective · B2
Speaking or behaving in a cold, rude way that shows you think you are better or more important than the person in front of you.
傲慢無禮的