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I just managed to find my way into the Chat with Richard Lederer and asked him if any of his puns had ever failed due to differences in usage bewtween countries. Part of his reply surprised me. He said:"For example, any joke that relied on the line "smart as a whip" wouldn't work in the UK because the folks there don't use "smart" to mean "intelligent."
This really surprised me, as many of my UK friends use "smart" in that way. Obviously, I would not expect ordinary speakers of any variant of English to be au fait with another variant's usage. However, the fact that Dr. Lederer is a usage editor for a major dictionary, makes me wonder if his response is more proof of the astonishing insularity (nod-to-tsuwm-emoticon) of US English speakers?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Max: Just for fun, I went to UK Yahoo, found Cambridge English Dictionary, and it gave smart the way I am used to using it.
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Dear Max: Just for fun, I went to UK Yahoo, found Cambridge English Dictionary, and it gave smart the way I am used to using it.
Thanks, Dr. Bill, tat's my point exactly. How could a usage editor for a dictionary not know that? Or, rather, does the fact that a usage editor for a dictionary did not know that indicate that the gap between the two main Englishes is now a gaping chasm that even the exceptionally learned do not cross?
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enthusiast
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How very odd. 'Smart' doesn't strike me as in any way an Americanism. I wasn't aware of any usage difference. It's just another everyday synonym, intelligent = smart = clever.
Perhaps it's not the word of first choice, I don't know; I'd say someone was intelligent, as the most neutral. I use 'clever' to mean intelligent but it also has a possible pejorative connotation of overly-clever; 'smart' is open to the same objection: you can reprimand someone 'Don't be clever!' or 'Stop being smart!'. I assume these connotations are US also. But the basic meaning is (as far as I'm aware), just 'intelligent', and is a natural word for it here.
It doesn't strike me as parallel to either of these cases: (i) Two words, both used in both countries, but each preferring one. So 'frock' and 'dress' both used and understood, but US would usually choose 'dress', UK 'frock'. (ii) One word, primary sense different in each country, but both senses understood in both. So UK 'mad' = insane, but also understood as angry*; US conversely.
Perhaps my second paragraph means it's actually of type (i) but I'm no longer as sensitive to non-UK usage as I used to be.
* This formerly said crazy, which was a typo -- I meant angry, of course.
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"Dress" would now be my word of choice (in UK) over "Frock" which sounds old fashioned (and I'm not young). Is this a regional, class, age, difference? Or just personal?
"smart" with no context would mean neat and tidy to me, but within context could mean "clever" with no awkwardness, and no connotations. "Don't be smart with me" = "Don't be clever with me" with no difference.
Ro* Ward
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old hand
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old hand
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There is one informal BE usage of smart that is not used in AE:
A:Did you get the tickets for the concert?
B:Yeah!
A:Smart! (meaning 'Excellent' or 'good job')
'Smart as a whip' ('bright as a button'?), seems pretty obvious, even though I like 'quick as a whip'.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Yo, Ro, I'm with you exactly on this.
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Pooh-Bah
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i) "Brilliant," however, *is* used differently, no? ii) re: dress/frock: Do UK wives tell their husbands to shut the frock up? 
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What about "smartypants"? For me, it refers to a person who is too clever for their own good, and cheeky to boot. Would that be mainly US or British English? 
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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<<and cheeky to boot>> Marianna, You've given me another excuse to bite my tongue. David
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