wiseacre n. [WYZE-ay-ker]

Definition

: one who pretends to knowledge or cleverness; especially: smart aleck
：假装知识渊博或者聪明绝顶的人；尤其是指自作聪明的人

注：smart aleck：aleck是Alexander的昵称，smart aleck表示自作聪明的人

Did You Know?

Given the spelling and definition of wiseacre, you might guess that the word derives from the sense of wise meaning "insolent" or "fresh" - the sense that also gives us wise guy, wisecrack, and wisenheimer. But, in fact, wiseacre came to English by a different route: it is derived from the Middle Dutch wijssegger, meaning "soothsayer." Wiseacre first appeared in English way back in the 16th century, while the "insolent" sense of wise and the words formed from it are products of the 19th century. The etymologies of wiseacre and wise are not completely distinct, however; the ancestors of wiseacre are loosely tied to the same Old English root that gave us wise.

词源/词根演化：wijssegger（中世纪荷兰语，占卜者）--> wiseacre

只看wiseacre的拼写与定义，你可能会猜测这个词来自与wise的 “厚颜的，无耻的”，或者“无经验的“的含义 --- 同时这个含义还给我们带了了wise guy，wisecrack与wiseheimer，这几个词都用来表示”自作聪明的人“。不过实际上，wiseacre是由另一条路线来到英语世界的：它是继承自中世纪荷兰语wijssegger，意思是“占卜者，预言者”。wiseacre在16世纪第一次出现在英语中，然后wise的”厚颜的“含义以及由这个含义构成的单词（即wise guy，wisecreack等）直到19世纪才出现。不过，wiseacre与wise的词源并不是完全不同的，wiseacre的先祖与wise的古英语词根还是有不太严格的丝丝联系。

注：insolent： 粗野的；无礼的；厚颜的；无耻的；fresh：新鲜的；清新的；新近的；无经验的；wise guy：自作聪明的人；wisecrack：俏皮话；wisenheimer：[口]自作聪明的人；soothsayer：sooth在古代的意思是真实（truth），soothsayer表示语言者，占卜者

Examples

"Regardless of how they choose to do so, most people who contact Congress have legitimate concerns --- but, as any staffer can tell you, there is a small but enduring subgroup of wiseacres and crackpots. Moore, the former congressional staffer, once took a call from a man who claimed, in all seriousness, to be the true and rightful owner of the moon."
--- Kathry Schulz, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2017

不管他们是如何选择要这么做的，大多数联系国会的人都是由合情合理的担忧的 --- 但是，任何国会议员都会告诉你，总是会有一小撮自作聪明的人甚至疯子怪人。Moore，国会前议员，曾经就接到过一个男人的电话，在电话中，那个男人严肃地说他是真正的合法的月球拥有者。

注：regardless of：不管，不顾；legitimate：合法的，世袭的，婚生的，正当的，合理的；legitimate concern：合情合理的担忧；crackpot：疯子，怪人，狂想家；staffer：雇员中的一员；take a call：接到电话
"A French nobleman-soldier who is mad for love and poetry in roughly equal measure, a chivalric wiseacre adept at wordplay and swordplay alike, Cyrano requires an actor who is both physically and intellectually nimble."
--- Don Aucoin, The Boston Globe, 20 July 2018

一个法国的贵族士兵，几乎等同地钟情于爱情与诗歌，一个狭义的智者，既能执笔挥毫又能舞刀弄棒，Cryano要求他的演员既智商超群又身手矫健。

注：be mad for：热衷于...；chivalric：骑士的，狭义的；adept at：敏于...，行家，里手；wordplay：双关语，俏皮话，文字游戏；swordplay：击剑，剑术，舞剑；nimble：敏捷的，机敏的，伶俐的，矫健的

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【英语学习】【WOTD】wiseacre 释义/词源/示例

wiseacre n. [WYZE-ay-ker]

Definition

Did You Know?

Examples

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