[Ads-l] wisecrack, 1905/6

[Jonathan Lighter]

1897 _Fullerton [Neb.] Post_ (Aug. 27) 1 (Newspapers.com) :  "If the
republicans had done anything for which they were sorry, and desired to
apologize for, resolutions should be adopted." Such a wise crack as this
seemed to lift the pervading gloom."

A shrewd, not a snide, crack.

1903 _Ottawa [Ont.] Citizen_ (July 9) 3 (Newspapers.com) : SOME WISE
CRACKS. Newark News. Accept a confidence and lose a friend. Money being the
root of all evil, all men are rooters. Some men are born great. Others use
billboards. [Etc.]

A mix of wisdom and sarcasm

1904 _ Enquirer_  (Cincinnati)  (June 26)  (Color Section) 6:  We [owls]
hand out the wisdom. Now that's a wise crack."

The semantic development looks like "a shrewd remark" > "a would-be shrewd
remark"  > "a sarcastic remark."

 JL

On Fri, Jun 28, 2024 at 5:48 PM Stephen Goranson <
0000179d4093b2d6-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> Quite right. Thank you for the correction.
> Another try, copyright 1904. NYC.
> Bowery Life, by Chuck Conners. Unnumbered page.
>
> "Cut it out, Sis, an' lissen ter er wise crack."
>
>
> https://www.google.com/books/edition/Bowery_Life/HwwPAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=crack
> [
> https://books.google.com/books/content?id=HwwPAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl&imgtk=AFLRE7087Nhp-qXOeKzmJ9SQLAD2zESz8T7vTmesaiIyNqMpCiz01N6t1T95H_PkHIS_VPlvwQyGm6NifKWPlLWM13M3W0wy1x51kujW8HodxmvQtczpvbb0mEn1uAL__C6IAzHW9mU3
> ]<
> https://www.google.com/books/edition/Bowery_Life/HwwPAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=crack
> >
> Bowery Life<
> https://www.google.com/books/edition/Bowery_Life/HwwPAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=crack
> >
> /
> www.google.com
>
>
> sg
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Friday, June 28, 2024 5:17 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: wisecrack, 1905/6
>
> Interesting lead, sg. The Google Books (GB) database can be confusing,
> as you know.
> GB sometimes combines two volumes into one volume. The phrases:
> "wisecrack of the smart set" and "wise-crack has become" appear in a
> 1929 book that has been appended to the 1906 book.
>
> Year: 1929 Copyright
> Book Title: Adventurous America
> Author: Edwin Mims
> Page 13 and 143
>
> On Fri, Jun 28, 2024 at 4:48 PM Stephen Goranson
> <0000179d4093b2d6-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
> >
> > American Character, by Brander Matthews pub. NY,1906, from 1905
> lectures?,
> > p.13:
> >
> > "I cannot be satisfied with the attitude of the defeatist or the
> futilitarian, nor can I believe that the wisecrack of the smart set is the
> acme of human wisdom."
> >
> > Also, p. 143, "The wise-crack has become for many the height of wisdom."
> >
> >
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.google.com/books/edition/American_Character/UA2WY1GvV-oC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=wisecrack&pg=PA13&printsec=frontcover__;!!OToaGQ!oXXamOM_VO-91aCe2VIZHVrXs5sLmDN4NwBmh3T8MREfppVdY4togxWjti1dfxV64FaEjmMXdsXMnK_umdBBfBfb2Q$
> >
> >
> > sg
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society -
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.americandialect.org__;!!OToaGQ!oXXamOM_VO-91aCe2VIZHVrXs5sLmDN4NwBmh3T8MREfppVdY4togxWjti1dfxV64FaEjmMXdsXMnK_umdC0EQAY3w$
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society -
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.americandialect.org__;!!OToaGQ!oXXamOM_VO-91aCe2VIZHVrXs5sLmDN4NwBmh3T8MREfppVdY4togxWjti1dfxV64FaEjmMXdsXMnK_umdC0EQAY3w$
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org