View source for Squib (writing)

{{short description|Brief satirical or witty piece of writing or speech}}
A '''squib''' is a brief satirical or witty piece of writing or speech, like a [[parody|lampoon]], or a short, sometimes humorous piece in a newspaper or magazine, used as a filler. It can be intended to ignite thinking and discourse by others on topics of theoretical importance, but is often less substantial than this and just humorous (see [[The Daily Squib]]).
One of the most famous squibs in English literature is ''The Candidate'' by [[Thomas Gray]].<ref>{{cite book|editor=Toynbee, Paget|editor-link=Paget Toynbee|chapter=The Candidate|title=The correspondence of Gray, Walpole, West and Ashton (1734–1771)|volume=2|year=1915|pages=226–228|publisher=Oxford University Press|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QF0EAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA226}}</ref><ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Squib}}</ref>
In [[linguistics]], the term "'''squib'''" is used for a very short [[scholarly article]]; this usage in the field was popularized by [[John R. Ross|John R. “Haj” Ross]] in the 1960s. A squib may outline anomalous data but not suggest a solution, or develop a minor theoretical argument. A particularly interesting variety of squibs are the so-called snippets, which are "the ideal footnote: a side remark that taken on its own is not worth lengthy development but that needs to be said".<ref name="ledonline.it">{{cite web|url=http://www.ledonline.it/snippets/|title=Led on Line - Snippets|website=www.ledonline.it|accessdate=10 August 2017}}</ref> The online journal Snippets is dedicated to this type of squib.<ref name="ledonline.it"/>
==See also==
*[[Pasquino]], a statue in Rome where anonymous short satires are deposited
==References==
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[[Category:Linguistics]]
[[Category:Essays]]
[[Category:Newspapers]]
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