While RYS Didn't Originate "Snowflake" (Was it Fight Club?), Many Claim They Popularized It. Recovering Academic Sends This List In.

I got turned on to RYS about the time I landed a tt position. Always found reading the posts cathartic . . . much like my evening bourbons. I’m out of teaching now, but have continued to read the CM posts to remind myself how much my life used to suck.

But anyway . . . I always wondered how “snowflake” came into the lexicon. So I did some research. Going back to the still-posted RYS entries, I started at the bottom and read every remaining post (at least up until September 2008). Here’s what I found. The very first mention of “snowflake” occurs on:

The Student Advocate Advocates a Bit for Herself (11 JAN 2008)

That’s right! We are approaching the 4th anniversary of “snowflake." Here are some other early examples:

• 2008’s First “Academic Haiku” (26 JAN 2008)
• The Woe of Wallflower Wally (18 FEB 2008)
• Madge from Moosejaw . . . . (04 MAR 2008)
• File this Under . . . . (19 MAR 2008)
• Fed Up Flossie (16 APR 2008)
• First Summer Haiku (08 MAY 2008)
• What Part of Hiatus Don’t You People Understand? (18 MAY 2008)
• Brick from Buffalo Wants a Snowflake Spotting Guide (03 AUG 2008)
• Sounds Like Sarcastic Sarah . . . . (04 AUG 2008)
• Where We Continue Our Study of the Species (07 AUG 2008)
• Sundeen from Sudbury and Her Specialest of Snowflakes (18 AUG 2008)