That is why Mr Gore's gaffes evoke amused smiles and Mr Quayle's only condescending sneers.

ECONOMIST: Refusing to Quayle

Remember the sneers about Hyundai when it first arrived in the U.S.: It couldn't compete with used cars.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Forget the sneers from Georgetown: the rive droite will provide many of the administration's people and most of its ideas.

ECONOMIST: Lexington

The Egyptians, contrary to British sneers, proved perfectly able to run their canal after President Nasser nationalised it in 1956.

ECONOMIST: The canal and the president

Sneers about domestic politics hurting Hungary's presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2011 proved largely groundless.

ECONOMIST: Eastern Europe��s image: The awkward squad | The

It's still giving me the confidence to laugh off sneers about my middle-aged appearance, or - for that matter - to talk happily on the radio about my aging toenails.

BBC: A Point of View: Age, beauty and Miss World

People around the world heard about the sneers from some classmates, the silence from some adults, the school board that says it supports them but didn't sponsor its own prom.

CNN: Segregated prom tradition yields to unity

Oh yeah, sneers the opposition.

ECONOMIST: Haiti