Etymology Journal ยท S
Sharp as a tack
Meaning
- Highly intelligent or quick-witted. It refers to someone who is mentally acute and rarely misses a beat.
Complimentary, classic
Used in a sentence
- Even at ninety years old, she is sharp as a tack.
- That new intern is sharp as a tack and catches every error.
- You better listen to him because he is sharp as a tack.
The backstory
The comparison likely stems from the point of a metal tack being literally sharp. It was a common turn of phrase in 19th-century American parlance.
Heard in
Nationwide
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