IdiomDaily Life
English
Englisha smart aleck
Meaning: An annoying person who shows off how clever they are.
Example: “Some smart aleck in the back corrected the teacher's spelling.”
Origin: American English from the mid-19th century. It is sometimes linked to a 1840s New York swindler named Aleck Hoag, but that story is not proven.
Equivalents in other languages
French: Faire le mariole Literally: To play the mariole
More English idioms
- what have you been smoking? Said to someone whose idea sounds crazy.
- throw one's weight around To use one's power or importance in an overbearing way.
- yada yada yada And so on; skipping boring details.
- swap spit To kiss passionately (slang).
- hit the wall To suddenly run out of energy.
- grab a bite To eat something quickly.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A relentless 'p' plosive drill; a peck is an old dry measure of about nine litres.
- Unique New York. Three words that jam the 'y/n/k' sequence together — repeat it and it collapses into 'you…
- Pad kid poured curd pulled cod. Alternating repetition — the consonants swap at the start of every other word, which is w…
Keep exploring