Sierra in Salt Lake City says that smarts for a quick, sharp pain, is a phrase she picked up from her father and rarely hears from people her age. The word smart has meant a stinging or keen pain for about a thousand years, and that older sense long predates smart meaning intelligent. It might be related to a Latin word for bite. The idiom smart as a whip brings the two senses close together, suggesting both sharpness of pain and sharpness of mind. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Why Can “Smart” Refer to Intelligence and a Sharp Pain?”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hello, this is Sierra from Salt Lake City.
Hello, Sierra. Welcome to the program.
Hello.
Hello.
What can we help you with?
So my question is, I’m wondering about the phrase, that smarts. For example, if I hit my elbow on a countertop or against a wall or something and it kind of hurts, I often say, that smarts. And so, yeah, I never hear anybody else say that, especially anybody my age, and I’m 28. And the only person I ever hear say it is my dad. And he’s 66.
-huh.
And that’s all you say, right? Just that smart? You don’t say anything more colorful? Or more earthy or coarse? Like I know Grant would.
Yeah, well, that smart to me is like something that kind of hurts, but is more instantaneous and goes away pretty fast.
-huh.
Whereas, you know, if something really hurts, you know, I might say something worse.
I see.
I see.
You know, that’s a very interesting question because now that I think about it, I haven’t heard anybody say that in a long, long time. Have you, Grant?
I don’t hear people say that. I feel that it’s more British.
Really?
Yeah.
That’s interesting.
And I don’t know why. I mean, I understand it, but I don’t use it. Do you use it?
I don’t really, but I mean, it sort of calls back echoes of childhood for me.
What, you think one of your parents used it or the older generation?
I’m thinking I used to hear it on a cartoon or something. I don’t know. But it’s interesting that you mention it because it is an extremely old word. It goes back a thousand years or so.
A thousand years.
Yeah. It might be related to the Latin word for bite.
-huh.
But you’re right. I don’t hear it that often. And you don’t have any peers, Sierra, who use it?
No, I’ve never heard anybody say that. And one time I said it when I was getting into the car with my boyfriend, and he just kind of chuckled at me because he had never heard it before, and he didn’t even know what I was talking about.
Oh, really?
Mm—
Really?
I could see you getting a cock-eye from people when you use it. It’s definitely unusual enough that it might sound affected or old-fashioned.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But it’s perfectly legitimate. And again, has had that sense for years. And that’s why we have the word smart meaning intelligent. Yeah, it’s the one meaning a sharp pain or just like a keen pain is the older form of it by far. Like smart as a whip, you know?
Yeah.
See, both meaning is coming together there.
That never occurred to me.
Smart as a whip. It’s two kinds of smart, right?
Yeah, exactly.
Very interesting.
So you’re not alone. You’re not unusual. You are speaking English that is more than a thousand years old. So congratulations.
All right, perfect. Just the answer I was looking for.
Thanks for calling, Sierra.
All right.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Thanks.
What made people look at you funny when you opened your mouth?
Martha’s like, school pictures.
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