The joke's on us

Posted by Pamela on July 26, 2006

In Reply to: A very American joke posted by Bob on July 26, 2006

: : : : Hello - does anyone know the origins of the saying, Smart as a Cookie? I found one reference to 1948, but it didn't give any details. Thank you all in advance and I apologize if this has been covered, if so I was not able to put my finger on a past thread.

: : : I've heard "that's one smart cookie."

: : I've heard "a smart cookie" but not "smart as a cookie." The Dictionary of American Slang has these two among its definitions of "cookie":
: : "A man; usually a man who is self-confident, clever, or brusque; usu. in 'tough cookie' or 'smart cookie.' 1942: 'Just about the toughest cookie ever born.' _Amer. Mercury_, Oct.,..."
: : "Any person, esp. a clever, brash, or energetic one."

: Reminds me of the joke:
: did you hear about the smart cookie who went around selling girl scouts?
: which I decided would draw a blank in the UK.... girl scouts (read: Girl Guides) in the US raise funds by selling boxes of cookies (read:bisuits) door-to-door. (Yet another joke fails on the autopsy table....)

A few years ago, Australian TV removed its local content laws about the percentage of overseas advertisements we could have. Ever since then, complaints abound about our young people abandoning Australian (i.e. British) terms in favour of American ones (seems about half our ads are from the US - they don't even bother to do an Australian voice-over anymore). So, while my sister was a girl guide who sold Girl Guide Biscuits, "girl guide biscuits" only gets about 10 hits on Australian Google, "girl scout biscuits" gets 8, but "girl scout cookies" gets about 2,000. (And to think that, only 5 years ago, we had never heard of Orios and many kids thought the Cookie Monster was eating "Kookise" biscuits). Out of interest, I will tell you that US ads hyperbolise in a way that is often hilarious to Australians (at least gen X's and older). Pamela

• The joke's on us RRC 26/July/06
• The joke's on us Smokey Stover 26/July/06
  • The joke's on us Smokey Stover 26/July/06
    • The joke's on us David FG 26/July/06
      • The joke's on us Brian from Shawnee 26/July/06