No, It's Not Named After Barack Obama

Of course the word loses some meaning in translation, but it sounds perfect for the egalitarian elitist set run rampant in liberal circles these days.

RUSSIA'S super-rich love to flaunt their wealth. Soon they will have a magazine called Snob to help them.

Mikhail Prokhorov - whose wealth is estimated at around $US22 billion ($23.3 billion) - plans to spend $US150 million ($159 million) setting up a magazine, website and television station called Snob, the general director of the new venture said today.

"It's for people who are successful and those who want to be successful," said Andrei Shmarov, who will run Snob.

Mr Prokhorov, 42, made his fortune in the chaotic 1990s when businessmen bought up parts of former Soviet industries for a fraction of their real value.

The Forbes Rich List ranked Mr Prokhorov as the 24th richest person in the world. He is one of the owners of Norilsk Nickel, the world's biggest nickel producer, and Polyus Gold, Russia's biggest gold producer.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary's online edition, www.askoxford.com, a snob is: "A person who has an exaggerated respect for high social position or wealth and who looks down on those regarded as socially inferior".

Well, that certainly describes certain politicans.

Mr Shmarov said Russians attach a different meaning to the word.

"Snob to us means a person who is a 'self-made man', a person who has gained a right to snobbishness," he said emphasising the main difference with the British meaning which he said referred to inherited wealth.

They may want to check up on whether the title is available since something called Snob already exists.