You Are a Smart Cookie
I found myself telling Daphne the other day that she was a smart cookie. I stopped and wondered what the hell that meant and promised myself to look it up when I got home. I didn’t by the way. In the meantime Daphne and I had this conversation:
Me: If cookies were really smart, what would be the smartest of the cookies?
Daphne (after careful consideration): Definitely Oatmeal Raisin.
Me: That’s what I was thinking! My theory is it is smart because oatmeal and raisins are both good for you and they turned themselves into a cookie which makes them health food. I was also thinking Ginger Snaps might be smart because you have to be quick to be snappy and if you are quick, you are generally smart.
Daphne: But you would have to be smart to be a peanut butter cookie.
Me: I thought you just had to be sticky?
Daphne: No, you have to be smart. Being able to turn something sticky and full of protein into something so yummy is pretty smart. Besides, information sticks right to it.
See, she’s a smart cookie.
I think shortbread is the only one I would eliminate all together because, well, isn’t it obvious? Chocolate chip has to be smart to be so incredible delicious. But in the interest of science, here’s a poll. Highlight the smartest of the cookies and press vote.
[socialpoll id=”2315091″]
The current thinking in psychology is that there are a lot of different kinds of intelligence, and folk wisdom even says there’s book smarts and street smarts and being a smartass, which is my personal favorite. So really all these cookies could be equally smart but in different ways.
Yeah, I know, I don’t sound like a smart cookie. I sound more like a big waffle.
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I think you sound more like a breakfast sandwich. What could be smarter than eggs, bacon, cheese and an English muffin all put together? The English always sound smart with their accent like they are doing english right. No cookie can beat that.
I’m not crazy about this definition, but it’s one of several I found when I went looking:
According to the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms, a “smart cookie” is someone who is clever and good at dealing with difficult situations. There is an online reference that dates it to 1948 (Online Etymology Dictionary). However, it is quite possible that it goes back even further. The verb “cook” is first attested c.1380. A reference to “cookie” is from 1700s and refers to little cakes. It is possible that “cookie” referred to women and smart cookie referred to their being smart and intelligent even though they looked petite and seemed “softer” than the men. It is also quite possible “cookie” was a fond way of calling a “cook” and that it included men and women cooks, as often men were/are the professional cooks (like Sgt Beatle Bailey in the 1950s comic strip, Emeril) and the “smart” in the idiom referred to the fact that in the earlier days, cooks only undertook practical training and did not have to have degrees and such. Yes, the answer is a bit longer than you would have thought…
ONE SMART COOKIE, an originally U.S. expression meaning ‘person,’ guy or gal (an attractive young woman), often preceded by various qualifiers, has been around since 1917. ‘Tough’ and ‘hard-boiled’ COOKIE appeared before 1920. SMART COOKIE meaning a “bright, intelligent, shrewd, opportunistic person, a sagacious judge of things, purportedly first appeared (according to Cassell’s) in the 1920s (earliest quotes I found were from the 1940s). And although several slang dictionaries list it, none offer any etymology. I suppose it’s just one of those expressions as ‘good egg,’ ‘bad apple,’ etc. where an article of food is taken to represent a person. English playwright, author, actor, and composer Noel Coward once wittily translated ‘smart cookie’ into British as ‘clever biscuit.’
Meh. Would have thought they’d be funnier or more clever.
Funny and clever is my job! Hey, since you are doing my homework, can you look up penetrance for me? I’m afraid of the google ads 🙂
Hmmm. The definition is completely different from what you and I were expecting. Completely.
Safe? I saw it in a blog post and laughed, because it is funny.
I have to say I went with peanut butter, although I’m virtually alone in that. I admit I may have been unduly influenced by the fact that I hate oatmeal raisin and would only eat a ginger snap on a dare.
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My daughter is with you on the PB–don’t feel alone. You PB’s have to stick together.
I went for ginger snaps, like all of the other smart people. They’re sharp, snappy and spicy so they are the obvious choice. Duh!
I wonder what the dumbest cookie would be. Maybe pecan sandies?
Dumbest? Good thought. I would go with some kind of short bread because they are short on smarts and only have a couple of ingredients. You can’t trust a cookie that doesn’t even need an egg… let alone a good egg 🙂
All I know is snickerdoodle isn’t even in the top 10:). Runs with scissors and doesn’t pay attention in class!
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All good points. Who can trust a name like that? Sit at the back of the class and use crayons kind-of cookie.