Smart as paint

Posted by Victoria S Dennis April 06, 2006In reply to Smart as paint posted by lewis rosenbaum on April 06, 2006

does anyone know the origin of the phrase used by long john silver in treasure island when praising jim hawkins you're a "smart as paint"

It simply means that Jim is smart (clever) just as anything freshly painted is smart (neat and well-looking). It's a sort of pun on the two meanings of "smart".