the.com/wise guy
Someone whose IQ and mouth are in a toxic, hilarious relationship.
means A person who acts smart-alecky or sarcastically clever, often as a cover for actual insolence.
from A sarcastic flip of 'wise' — originally meaning sage or learned — into its mocking opposite. By the late 1800s American slang, 'wise' had come to mean streetwise or cocky rather than truly wise, and 'wise guy' emerged to label someone who thought he knew it all (and let everyone hear about it). The phrase got extra mileage from gangster movies, where 'wise guy' also became underworld slang for a made man — someone wised up to how things really work.
- origin
- 1800s slang for insufferable know-it-all
- mafia use
- later meant a made man, oddly fitting
- warning sign
- usually precedes a punch or a punchline
- synonym drift
- smart aleck with better tailoring