Smartness of whips & steel traps (1868 and 1826)

Wed Mar 23 09:43:39 UTC 2005

SMART AS A WHIP-- 14,600 Google hits,  2,550 Google Groups  hits
SMART AS A STEEL--163 Google hits, 45 Google Groups hits
MIND LIKE A STEEL--8,050 Google hits, 6,720 Google Groups hits
STEEL TRAP MIND--579 Google hits, 383 Google Groups hits
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David Letterman's show on Tuesday had the lovely Jessica Alba lasso him. He  
followed this up with the next guest, who was an author who discussed string  
theory and the origin of the universe. It was like booking trained  monkeys 
followed by Einstein on the same show.
...
Jessica Alba was smart as a...whip? Smart as a steel trap? A whip can  smart, 
but is it smart in and of itself? Who would win if you book a whip and a  
steel trap on JEOPARDY!? If your whip gets stuck in a steel trap, how smart is  
that?
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I haven't checked Early American Newspapers or Literature Online yet.
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(OED) (steel trap)
1735 SOMERVILE Chase III. Argt., The *Steel-Trap described. 1775 [see 
_SPRING-GUN_ 
(http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/crossref?query_type=fulltext&queryword=smart+as+a+&first=1&max_to_show=10&search_spec=fulltext&sort_type=alpha&search_id
=xgjS-HhfHjK-5971&control_no=50236729&result_place=5&xrefword=spring-gun)  
1]. 1827 Hone's Every-day Bk. II. 906 The  stranger..is in jeopardy of falling 
into the..fangs of a steel-trap. 1872 _MRS.  STOWE_ 
(http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-s5.html#mrs-stowe)  Oldtown Fireside Stories 57 She was a little 
thin woman, but tough as Inger rubber, and smart as a steel trap. 1899 A. M. 
BINSTEAD Gal's Gossip 127 He posted  sentinel, bright and ready as a new 
steel-trap. 1921 _D. H. LAWRENCE_ 
(http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-l.html#d-h-lawrence)  Tortoises 32  Little old man, Scuffling beside her..Parting his 
steel-trap  face, so suddenly and seizing her scaly ankle. 1937 _E. S. 
GARDNER_ (http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-g.html#e-s-gardner)  Case of 
Dangerous Dowager i. 8 You're going up against a crook who is smart as a steel  
trap. 1972 Publisher's Weekly 17 Apr. 19/1  He's rather amused by what he calls 
his steeltrap memory. ‘I have  a tight grip on things in inverse proportion to 
their importance.’
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(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
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_CITY  INTELLIGENCE.; OUR DELEGATION TO CHARLESTON. Departure of the 
Nashville Who was  on Board, and a Hint at what they Suffered. _ 
(http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=79175064&SrchMode=1&sid=5&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQ
T=309&VName=HNP&TS=1111568379&clientId=65882) 
New York  Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: Apr 19, 1860. p. 8 (1 
page)  :
The reporter of the _Herald_, who is buttonholeing "honorable gentlemen,"  
and who looks as smart as a steel-trap--is welcome to _all_ the news,  
"exclusive" and all.
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_PERSONATING  GOULD'S SON.; THE PEOPLE ON STAMFORD TURN OUT TO SEE THE YOUNG 
MAN. _ 
(http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=100927518&SrchMode=1&sid=6&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1111569306&clientId=65882) 
New York Times (1857-Current file). New York,  N.Y.: Aug 9, 1887. p. 1 (1 
page) :
Besides Johnny Simpson said it was Mr. Gould, and everybody here knows that  
Johnny Simpson is Mrs. Simpson's son and just as smart as a whip.
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(NEWSPAPERARCHIVE)
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     _Wilmingtonian And Delaware Advertiser _ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=ssVO2f5ZuruKID/6NLMW2jhutOd4Ad+wTE5SB/B+er36Yq7yt+q+gEIF+CsZY
mrz)  Thursday, April 20, 1826 _Wilmington,_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=city:wilmington+smart+as+a+steel+trap+AND)  _Delaware_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=state:delaware+smart+as+a+stee
l+trap+AND)       
...to put your sheeps eyes on.  SMART AS A STEEL-trAp,  she'll do the 
business for..

...
Pg. 1, col.5:
There's Miss Wilhelmina Scroggins, just about sixteen.  She;s the girl to put 
your sheeps eyes on. Smart as a steel trap, she'll  do the business for you, 
and make a mason of you.
...
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_Constitution _ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=wSCs6S0EhDCKID/6NLMW2h6FUUtxVrYsjqWCJB+BY7R+C/D8AbE0ug==)  Tuesday, January 11, 1876 
_Atlanta,_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=city:atlanta+smart+as+a+steel+trap+AND)  _Georgia_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=state:georgia+smart+as+a+steel+trap+AND)      ...A vis in this  section, 
AS SMART AS A  STEEL trAp cAn cut put Any of  the.....heArt, of us to clo his 
Su he mAy the  SMART, Betley lie's A hundred.  And..

...
     _Decatur Daily Republican _ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=olJOpJH/3rKKID/6NLMW2sPSuzjNllzwsTh1EWObh+kRXo9KEVIjaw==)  Wednesday, 
March 24, 1886 _Decatur,_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=city:decatur+smart+as+a+whip+AND)  _Illinois_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=state:illinois+smart+as+a+whip+AND)       
...rebuking him. She  wAfl A girl And SMART AS  A. WHIP. goes A person who  
bAg..

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_Daily Era _ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=++xTpPwvmwuKID/6NLMW2nM/LzxMe8RXM+4etaSOsLFddz5sfzuTIkIF+CsZYmrz)  Saturday, September 18, 
1886 _Bradford,_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=city:bradford+smart+as+a+whip+AND)  _Pennsylvania_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=state:pennsylvania+smart+as+a+whip+AND)       
...She- is About eleven  yeArs of Age And SMART AS  A WHIP. The Absence of 
Prof..

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_Freeborn County Standard _ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=0Hv62RLHvjKKID/6NLMW2hviI+PXffgYY7CU81j31uhwUONAFOFcSQ==)  Wednesday, November 
28, 1883 _Albert Lea,_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=city:albert lea+smart+as+a+whip+AND)  _Minnesota_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=state:minnesota+smart+as+a+whip+AND)       
...And sech; A  reAl high-flyer he wAS, SMART  AS A WHIP, climbin' every 
where.....And  them dAys. "Mis' Mills wAS A  SMART womAn And A womAn, with  lots 
of..

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_Standard _ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=0Hv62RLHvjKKID/6NLMW2udSM0f4A+Q5CAxokQkiFuJwUONAFOFcSQ==)  Wednesday, November 28, 1883 
_Albert Lea,_ (http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=city:albert 
lea+smart+as+a+whip+AND)  _Minnesota_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=state:minnesota+smart+as+a+whip+AND)       
...And sech; A  reAl high-flyer he wAS, SMART  AS A WHIP, climbin' every 
where.....country  And them dAys. Mills wAS A  SMART womAn And A womAn, with  lots 
of..

...
_Decatur Republican _ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=n9tPhCVbEnaKID/6NLMW2vT1H6Y5z1fcO/A18wqyL2VwUONAFOFcSQ==)  Wednesday, March 24, 1886 
_Decatur,_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=city:decatur+smart+as+a+whip+AND)  _Illinois_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=state:illinois+smart+as+a+whip+AND)      ...rebuking him. She  wAfl A 
girl And SMART AS  A. WHIP. goes A person who  bAg..

...
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(WRIGHT AMERICAN FICTION)
Who was she?, or, The soldier's best glory
Whittlesey, Elsie  Leigh.
<EDITION  Philadelphia : Claxton, Remsen  & Haffelfinger, 1871.
Pg. 378:
"He _does_ come honestly by his nature, and though he is as brown as an  
Indian, he is as smart as a whip, nothing of the pale spiritual in him, an  
out-and-out mischievous, harum-scarum boy, just as I would have him."
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(MAKING OF AMERICA--MICHIGAN)

Author: Brisbin, James S.  (James Sanks), 1837-1892.
Title: The campaign lives  of Ulysses S. Grant, and Schuyler Colfax. By Gen. 
James S. Brisbin.
Publication date:  1868.
Collection: Making of  America Books
Pg. 307:
"That man, Grant, is as smart as a  whip."