Smart as a whip

[mj...@uno.edu]

A friend has challenged me to discover the origin of the expression "smart
as a whip." I've checked about 10 books on word and phrase origins in my
personal library without success. Help! A dinner at one of the best
restaurants in New Orleans is waiting for me if I am successful in my
quest.

Marie-Jeanne Trauth
University of New Orleans
m...@mc.uno.edu

[Mark Israel]

In article <1994May20.1...@cs.uno.edu>, mj...@uno.edu (Marie-Jeanne Trauth) writes:

> A friend has challenged me to discover the origin of the expression "smart
> as a whip."

_Have a Nice Day -- No Problem_ says: "The sharp crack of a whip has
been a metaphor for mental quickness since the mid-nineteenth century in
America."

> I've checked about 10 books on word and phrase origins in my personal
> library without success.

Wow! I think that's even more than I have.

> Help! A dinner at one of the best restaurants in New Orleans is waiting
> for me if I am successful in my quest.

Bon appetit!

mis...@csi.uottawa.ca Mark Israel

[Mary Ellen Curtin]

Mark Israel <mis...@grdb.csi.uottawa.ca> writes:
>
>In article <1994May20.1...@cs.uno.edu>,
>mj...@uno.edu (Marie-Jeanne Trauth) writes:
>
>> A friend has challenged me to discover the origin of the expression "smart
>> as a whip."
>
> _Have a Nice Day -- No Problem_ says: "The sharp crack of a whip has
>been a metaphor for mental quickness since the mid-nineteenth century in
>America."

I always thought it was originally a pun on "smart," referring to the
sting of being struck with a whip. Any corroboration or refutation?

Dirk Goldgar

internet: <p01...@psilink.com>
postal: 9 Titus Mill Rd., Pennington, NJ 08534, USA

[Relda Elad]

Please excuse an amature, I can't resist.

I'll bet half that dinner that one would find that, sometime in
the horseless carriage past, it was considered fashionable as
in "smart" to carry a whip or "crop" to publicize one's status.

Wasn't this common in Germany at about the same time that it
was also fashionable to affect a monocle?

Relda

[camero...@gmail.com]

You are all in the ballpark... but you missed the mark. I'll be blogging on this subject later this week and if you search the term, you'll find the answer you were looking for.