Let X be a semimartingale, and S its Snell envelope. Under the assumption that X and S are continuous semimartingales in H-1, this article obtains a new, maximal, characterisation of S, and gives an application to the optimal stopping of functions of diffusions. We present a counterexample to the standard assertion that S is just ''a martingale on the go-region and X on the stop-region.''