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The NBA is adamant about one thing: It respects Morey having an opinion and hasn’t suspended or disciplined him or anything like that. It’s a fair point, although having the league itself apologize for a single individual’s comment is a pretty good snuff on the nose.

I saw it from this article. I haven't found the phrase "snuff on the nose" anywhere. Is it slang? What does it mean?

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  • I'm a native speaker and I've never seen that before. If I google that phrase I don't see it anywhere else.
    – pfalstad
    Oct 9, 2019 at 0:15
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    Please consider waiting at least 24 hours before accepting an answer, or possibly much longer, as suggested in this meta post. I'm a native speaker and I think the currently accepted answer is wrong, though I'm not sure. Writing a clearly correct answer might require more thought or research.
    – Ben Kovitz
    Oct 9, 2019 at 2:57

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The expression is a metaphor.

The writer appears to be comparing the pleasure that an apology from the NBA brings (for somebody's comment) to the pleasure that snuff takers get from a good sniff of quality snuff.

Both make people feel better.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snuff_(tobacco)

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  • Why does the author use 'on'? I feel "a pretty good snuff to the nose" looks more correct.
    – dan
    Oct 8, 2019 at 11:48
  • @dan Yes, I agree; it's a curious construction but I suspect that only the author will be able to answer the question. Authors are often not too bothered about correctness.
    – Ronald Sole
    Oct 8, 2019 at 11:51
  • @dan Snuff is a powder. I would expect powder to end up on somebody's nose (probably accidentally) rather than being applied to somebody's nose (deliberately). Also, it's a play on the idiom (if not an actual example of it) of a relevant point being on the nose.
    – Jason Bassford
    Oct 9, 2019 at 5:19

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