smart alec
colloquial noun phrase

- someone who tries to appear clever or who answers questions in a clever way that annoys other people

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

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PHRASE ORIGIN

The term "smart alec" originates from early 19th-century America and is often attributed to a real-life character named Alexander Hoag, who lived in New York City around the 1840s. Hoag was known for being cunning and manipulative, often outsmarting both his targets and, famously, the local law enforcement. He developed various schemes that relied on his quick thinking and cleverness, ultimately leading to the term “smart alec,” describing someone who is annoyingly clever or overly confident in their own intelligence.

The phrase "smart alec" began to appear in print in the United States in the mid-19th century, and it came to refer to someone who is "too clever for their own good"—often in a way that annoys others. Over time, “smart alec” entered popular usage to describe anyone with a sarcastic, self-satisfied wit, who displays their cleverness in ways that might frustrate or irritate others.

Today, “smart alec” has evolved to describe someone with an excessive or cocky display of intelligence or wit, often at others' expense. The phrase has become a playful insult, suggesting that cleverness alone doesn't equate to wisdom.

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FROM WISEACRE TO GOOGLE-GURU

The English language's remarkable collection of terms for "smart alec" – from traditional "wiseacre" to modern "google guru" – reveals a fascinating cultural preoccupation. Like the Inuit's supposed forty words for snow, our hundred-plus ways to describe know-it-alls suggests a mild obsession. It points to a culture that simultaneously values intelligence and deeply distrusts its flaunting.

The British are particularly good at language that deflates intellectual pretension: "clever clogs”, "smarty pants”, "walking dictionary" – each carries a gentle mockery that says, "We see you showing off, and we're not impressed”

Such vocabulary serves as a social leveling mechanism, ensuring that no one gets too big for their boots. Perhaps it's no coincidence that such language flourished in a society that pioneered both world-class universities and self-deprecating humour.

Helga & Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

arrogant know-it-all, bag of wind, barrel of brains, big mouth, braggart, brainbox, brash, cheeky devil, clever boots (clogs, dick), cockalorum, cocksure, cocky, conceited (fellow), condescending, copybook header, egghead, egotist, facetious (individual), fast talker, flip youngster, flippant, fresh kid (lip), full of oneself (yourself), google guru, grandstander, high horse rider, hotshot, impudent scamp, intellectual show-off, jack the lad, jackdaw in peacock's feathers, know-all, know-it-all, know-it-all type, loudmouth, malapert, motor mouth, Mr Clever, Mr Dictionary, Mr Know-it-all, Mr smarty, Mr smarty pants, nitpicker, one-upper, overconfident, pretentious (intellect), prideful, proud peacock, quick lip, quipster, sarcasm artist, saucebox, self-assured, self-satisfied, show-off, SMART ALEC (aleck), smart ass, smart cookie, smart guy, smart-ass, smartie pants, smarty, smarty boots, snarky/snooty (fellow), snob, superiority complex, swaggering intellect, swelled head, swellhead, toe rag, upstart, walking dictionary (encyclopedia), weisenheimer (wisenheimer), whippersnapper, wise guy (monkey, -ass, wiseacre) wisecracker

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