Mackerel snapper was once a sectarian slur for Catholics, originating in the United States in the 1850s. It referred to the Catholic discipline of Friday abstinence from red meat and poultry, for which fish was substituted. That practice distinguished Catholics from other Christians, especially in North America, where Protestant churches prevailed and Catholics tended to be immigrants from Italy, Poland, and Ireland. Catholics who have celebrated their 14th birthday are still called to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and every Friday of Lent. In addition to abstaining from meat, Catholics who have celebrated their 18th birthday, until they celebrate their 59th birthday, are to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Fridays throughout the year are days of penance, but forms of penance may be substituted at the discretion of national bishops' conferences, and may include works of charity instead of abstaining from meat. The term has been considered jocular since the mid-20th century and has fallen into disuse.
Examples
One example of the term's use comes from a letter to University of Notre Dame's president Father Matthew Walsh, from an anonymous Klansman who was upset with the actions of Notre Dame students in breaking up a Klan rally in South Bend. The term was also used by a character in the motion pictureHeaven Knows, Mr. Allison, set in the South Pacific during 1944. In the film, the non-Catholic U.S. Marine Corporal Allison refers to some fellow Marines as "mackerel snappers" while talking with a Catholic nun, then catches himself and quickly explains away his faux pas by stating that they were the "best Marines". The term is also included in the novelThe Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway: "They thought we were snappers, all right," the man said. "It certainly shows you the power of the Catholic Church. It's a pity you boys ain't Catholics. You could get a meal, then, all right." In the novel A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, the title character uses it to describe Catholics during the anti-Catholic phase of his childhood and adolescence. The term is used in the TV seriesBarney Miller episode, "Possession", in which a suspect demands to be exorcised of his demons.
