[Ads-l] Euphemism?

[Laurence Horn]

> On Oct 13, 2019, at 9:02 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> Good question, but there's no telling.
> 
> "Smartypants" is older in print. But so what?
> 
> Not in OED is a 1937 appearance of "smartarse" (n.) that I noted from
> Wilkes's _Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms_.
> 
> Unfortunately I didn't copy the quote itself.
> 
> JL

I don’t see “wisearse” or, unsurprisingly, “wiseass” in the OED; the latter is spell-checked by my mailer to “wiseacre”, which preserves the sense (and has its own mysterious etymology). Jon, any early cites for “wiseass” in your W files?

LH
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> JL
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> JL
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> On Sat, Oct 12, 2019 at 4:16 PM Parish, James <jparish at siue.edu> wrote:
> 
>> It occurred to me today to wonder whether "smartypants" is just a
>> euphemized version of "smartass". Is there any data for or against?
>> 
>> Jim Parish
>> 
>> 
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> 
> 
> -- 
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> 
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