What triggers the snippet is the TRIGGER field in the properties (right-click on the snippet and choose properties). Once the trigger is fully typed, then it will show the snippet.
This is where the problem is. In word complete, you can see multiple matches as you are typing, but with snippets, you must complete the whole trigger first. So, by combining word complete and snippets, you can get something similar.
Yes, it is a pain to enter in all the place holders, but using the XML import and export operations on the snippets (Thanks Yutaka!! :-) ) you can do it via a file, and it goes much faster than through the UI.
In my case, since it is a non-standard language, it has to be done somewhere. And, no doubt, I am probably the first with this language. Ah well.