Smartass vs Wiseass

Then there is the classic: not smartass, not dumbass, just plain "ass."

The caller of "ass" makes no judgement as to the intelligent of the "ass."

Just plain "ass."

Non-judgmental. Beautiful. Minimalist. Almost Zen.

Ass!

I always thought an "ass" was dumb. Therefore, calling someone a "dumbass" was redundant.

hmmm...I always thought "ass" was more of a jerk or mean person.

I always thought an "ass" could be smart or stupid. Just they were a jerk or did something mean to someone.

A smartass is kind of smart and a jerk.

A dumbass?
This one is more murky to me. Actually, in my region and my culture, a dumbass could be nice, but just did something stupid, or is stupid.

Thats funny and I never thought about it, but:
ass= a jerk
smartass= a jerk
dumbass is not necessarily a jerk.

Anyone disagree?

How come an ass and a smartass are mean, but a dumbass isn't necessarily mean or a jerk?

Maybe the dumbass knows not what s/he does, so is not necessarily mean.

But a smartass and an ass know what they are doing and they do it anyway, so they are a jerk?

Thoughts?

Oh, Jesus wept . . .


What a buncha goof-balls, what a buncha toadal doofuses . . .

um, would you call them dumbasses, smartasses, or just plain asses?

Don't be a wiseacre . . .

"toadal"?

please define

What, are you trying to be a pain in the ass . . .


This is the one and only occassion upon which i will answer such a question from you.

People rarely pronounce words with precision. Most people who use the word "totally" (or rather, over-use it) do not pronounce the word as "toe-tall-ee," they pronounce it as if they had said "toad-al-ee" . . .

Don't trouble my fun with your obtuse incomprehension in future in such a thread as this, if you please . . .

excuuuuussssse me.

no need to be a hard ass.

No need to be a quidnunc, either . . .

On topic:

A wise ass is usually making fun of someone or something, in a somewhat good natured way. Oh, it can be a little mean.

A smart ass is also usually making fun of someone or something, but it is more mean spirited than a wise ass.

On the scale of asses, I'd rather be called a wiseass first, a smartass next, probably a dumbass next, and just a plain ass last.

Funny, a plain ass (describing a person) is worse than a wiseass, smartass, or a dumbass!

Hard ass could be worse than all the above, if it was a redneck type...
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Okay...edit: here's the killer defintion of smartass & "How to be a Smartass" (most of you here already know how, though and could take this website to school on it): http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=smartass

Thats it! --didn't find anything this definitive on wiseass.

From Dictionary.com:

wise•ass also wise-ass P Pronunciation Key (w z s )
n. Vulgar Slang
A smart aleck.

smart-ass (smärt s )
n. Slang
A smart aleck.

hard-ass (härd s )
n. Vulgar Slang
One who inflexibly follows or enforces rules.

ass P Pronunciation Key ( s)
n. pl. ass•es ( s z)
2. A vain, self-important, silly, or aggressively stupid person. A ridiculously pompous person.

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My favorite is the last one: an aggressively stupid person.

Nice.

Well, if you're going to do something, go strong and be aggressive about it!

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Also note, the only difference between wiseass and smartass is that wiseass is considered vulgar slang, and smartass is only considered slang.

Huh? I can see a whole thread of philosophy/logic as to why wiseass is vulgar slang and smartass in only slang!?!

I think its something to do with: if someone is wise, it would really be vulgar if they were an ass too. Thats almost blasphemy--its kind of vulgar.

But if someone is merely smart and an ass, well thats not so bad. They are just a smartass.

If someone was wise, you'd think they'd be wise enough to know not to be such an ass.

Thus, if you are a wiseass, that is kind of vulgar.

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Thats it, I've convinced myself (probably no one else, though).

A wiseass most definitely is not the same as a smartass.

Well, I'll be damned. ****, now I have to admit that I was wrong and I soooo hate doing that!

I always thought they meant the the same and if it wasn't for that freaking "vulgar" in there, I would have been right <sigh> :-(