Source: This remains ‘smallest country in the world’ after adventurer claims fort abandoned
“cock a snoot” = “thumb to nose, wave fingers that are pointing upwards”.
“It was definitely a cock a snook to the British government,” Roy’s son Michael Bates tells 9news.com.au, tipping his hat to a lesser known name given to the derisive hand gesture where someone holds their thumb to the tip of the nose and waggles their fingers.”
…a few hours later… 
is there a Canadian or us English equiv? I was thinking “thumbing you nose at someone”, but that doesn’t include the finger wiggling thing (but then nor does “cock a snoot”, assuming “cock” is analog of fingers upwards as a rooster’s comb, and “snoot” being the nose)?. or am i thinking there is no wiggling of the fingers? is my own addition? and wtf is the meaning of a chicken touching your nose (with it’s beak (thumb?)? like why is that so bad? or is the thumb representing the back side of the chicken, tail or butt, but bad to have on your nose.
apparently both are acceptable:
and the Canadian equiv is “thumbing one’s nose at”, but is there a more compact phrase? probable not chicken related. generally means “showing contempt”.
