[Ads-l] Antedating of "Street-Smart" (Adjective)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Excellent citation, Fred. Following your lead I found the phrase
"street-smart kid" in a 1953 profile of boxer Art Aragon by sports
journalist Melvin Durslag.

Date: June 25, 1953
Newspaper: Los Angeles Examiner
Newspaper Location: Los Angeles, California
Article: First Row Gallery - Brash Talk Pays Off, Says Aragon
Author: Melvin Durslag
Section 4, Quote Page 3, Column 1
Database: GenealogyBank

[Begin excerpt]
By nature he is neither brash nor overconfident, but a sensitive,
street-smart kid who has learned that the villain of the plot often is
better rewarded than the hero.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Fri, Feb 20, 2026 at 4:43 PM Shapiro, Fred
<00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> street-smart, adj. (OED 1966)
>
> 1959 Chicago Sunday Tribune 4 Oct. Magazine Section 42/2 (Newspapers.com)
>
> That's known among Chicago's alley-wise, street-smart kids as being cool.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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