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Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.

Today we take a look at the word "smart."

If someone says you are smart, what do they mean? Is it a good thing or something bad? The answer is not as easy as you might think.

This is because the word smart has many meanings.

For example, someone could say you look smart or are dressed smartly. That means they like what you are wearing and your physical appearance. To use a slang expression, they could say, "You look really cool!"

But if something smarts, it can be unkind or hurtful, either physically or mentally. If you accidentally trip over a chair and fall down, you might shout, "Ow! That smarts!" Or if a friend says something that hurts your feelings, you can say you are smarting from the hurtful comments. In fact, maybe that person is no longer your friend.

If you are standing too close to a campfire, you could say your eyes are smarting from the smoke of the fire. Here the word "smarting" means a sharp pain.

But the most common meaning of smart is to be intelligent. If someone is smart as a whip, they are able to think very quickly.

However, different people have different ways of being smart. Some people are considered street smart. They may not have a strong education. But they are good at dealing with people and problems in the real world.

Other people might be book smart. This means they have spent many years in school. But they may not be so smart when dealing with people or real-world problems.

And then there is the definition of smart that means to talk or behave disrespectfully. If you say something disrespectful to your parents, they might say, "Don't get smart with me!" Here, "smart" means to show a lack of respect by saying something unkind. In fact, a child who has a smart mouth makes rude comments, not smart ones.

This definition of smart can also be used as a verb. If you smart off to the wrong people, they could hit you in the face.

And this leads to the term "Smart Aleck." If someone calls you a "Smart Aleck," it might sound like a good thing. But it's not.

Smart Alecks are people who think they are smarter than they really are. "Aleck" is the short name for Alexander. You might also see it written as "Alec" or "Alex." For a long time, word historians thought Smart Aleck was a general term, not a specific person.

However, an American researcher argued in 1985 that the expression "Smart Aleck" is actually based on a real man. Gerald Cohen used newspaper stories and other research to support his findings.

He wrote that Alec Hoag and his wife, Melinda, were thieves in New York City in the 1840s. Melinda would bring men home with a promise of sex. While she kept the men busy, Alec would enter the room through a secret door and steal their money.

Sometimes the men who were robbed would go to the police. But Alec Hoag reportedly paid police officers to help protect him and his wife.

But when he tried to cheat those officers of their money, they arrested him. They also gave him the nickname "Smart Alec," which means to be too smart for own good.

We leave you with the theme song from "Get Smart," a popular spy show that ran on television from 1965 to 1970. It was also made into a movie. The spy, Maxwell Smart, was not-so-smart but always seemed to beat the bad guys anyway. I'm Anna Matteo.

重点解析

1.trip over 被…绊倒
The boy tripped over a stone.
那个男孩被一块石头绊了一下。

2.smart from 刺痛；因...受到伤害
Local TV stations, which use Ms. Winfrey to anchor daytime hours, could smart from her move.
用奥普拉脱口秀来安排日间节目的地方电视台将因为她的这一决定受到冲击。

3.smart as a whip 聪明绝顶
I don't understand why your little sister is smart as a whip and you just can't figure this simple question out.
我真不明白，你妹妹聪明绝顶，而你连这么简单的问题也搞不清楚。

4.street smart 精于世故
You are a master negotiator and quite street smart, too.
你是谈判大师，而且也相当精于世故。

参考译文

这里是VOA学英语《词汇掌故》节目。

今天我们来讲一讲smart这个单词。

如果有人说你很smart，他们是什么意思呢？这是夸你还是损你呢？答案并不是你想象的那么简单。

这是因为smart这个单词有很多含义。

例如，有人可能会说你看上去很精神或者穿着得体。这意味着他们喜欢你的穿着或外表。要使用俚语他们可能会说，“你看起来真酷！”

但是如果something smarts，它就会对身体或精神造成伤害。如果你不小心绊到椅子并且摔倒，你可能会喊，“噢!好痛！”或者如果有朋友说的话伤害了你的感情，你可以说这些伤人的话让你好难过。实际上，可能这个人就不再是你的朋友。

如果你站得太靠近篝火，你可以说你的眼睛被篝火的烟弄疼了。smarting这个词在这里的意思是指剧痛。

但是smart最常用的意思是聪明。如果有人聪明绝顶（smart as a whip），他们就能非常迅速地思考。

但是不同的人聪明的方式不同。有人被认为是街头聪明（世故）。他们可能没有接受良好的教育。但是他们很善于在现实世界中与人打交道或处理事情。

另一种可能是书本智慧（书呆子）。这意味着他们在学校接受了多年教育。但是他们在与人打交道或处理现实问题时就不那么聪明。

还有一种smart的定义是指说话或行为无礼。如果你对父母说些不尊重的话，他们可能就会说，“别对我无礼！”在这里smart的意思是指通过说话刻薄表现出一种不尊重。实际上，臭嘴（smart mouth）的孩子说话粗鲁，不是聪明人。

Smart的这种定义还能用作动词。如果你对错误的人的无礼，他们可能就会扇你。

这就引出了Smart Aleck（自作聪明）这个术语。如果有人说你自作聪明，这听起来是夸你，但事实并非如此。

自作聪明是指自以为很聪明，实际上没那么聪明的人。Aleck是Alexander的缩写，你也可以写成Alec或Alex。长期以来，词汇历史专家都认为Smart Aleck是一种通用术语而不是指一个具体的人。

然而，一位美国研究人员1985年提出Smart Aleck这种表达是指一位真实的人。杰拉尔德·科恩（Gerald Cohen）利用新闻报道和其它研究来支持他的发现。

他写道，Alec Hoag和他的妻子Melinda是19世纪40年代纽约市的小偷。Melinda会以性诱惑带男人回家。当她和这个男人在忙时，Alec就会通过暗门进入房间偷走他们的钱财。

有时候被偷的男人会报警。但是据说Alec Hoag贿赂了警察来帮助保护自己和他的妻子。

但是当他试图欺骗他们资金的管理人员时，他们逮捕了他。他们还给他取了个绰号“Smart Alec”,意思是指为了自己的利益聪明过头。

最后我们留给你一首来自《糊涂侦探Get Smart》的主题曲，这是电视台从1965年到1970年播出的一部流行间谍片。它还被拍成电影。电影中的这名间谍Maxwell Smart不那么聪明，但似乎总能打倒坏人。我是安娜·马特奥。