# smarty pants!



## Taniaa

How would you translate this phrase into Italian: "you're a smarty pants!"?


----------



## Elisa68

smarty-pants: One who is obnoxiously self-assertive and arrogant (source Roget's II)
Direi: _Sei un saccente / un saputello._


----------



## Sierra

I think most of the time, I would use "smarty pants" in a playful manner.  

An example would be saying "Oh you're such a smarty pants" or "Stop being such a smarty pants" when a friend always seems to have an answer - she's probably right, but you hate that she's right!  The person doesn't have to be obnoxious or arrogant.

Would you still say "Dai... sei una saccante" in such situations?


----------



## dustinemptyspace

We could say:
Non fare il saputello!        
oppure
Devi sempre dire la tua?  -  You should always express your opinion, don't you?
oppure 
Ascoltate, parla l'enciclopedia Treccani.... -  Listen! The enciclopedia Treccani is speaking..

where Treccani is a famos publisher of enciclopedia....


----------



## Sierra

This reminds me of a word I recently heard *"un tuttologo"*   -- like my brother-in-law -- he always has an explanation and an answer for everything, and whatever he doesn't know he makes up!!


----------



## uinni

Sierra said:
			
		

> This reminds me of a word I recently heard *"un tuttologo"*  -- like my brother-in-law -- he always has an explanation and an answer for everything, and whatever he doesn't know he makes up!!


 
Actually the previous expressions have a derogatory meaning while this is mainly used with admiration (at leas when I heared it ).

Uinnin


----------



## Sierra

I didn't realise they were derogatory remarks   

The original post about "smarty pants" in normal use, isn't really derogatory.  Kids use them frequently, I use it with my husband all the time.  

Are we creating confusion here?


----------



## uinni

Sierra said:
			
		

> I didn't realise they were derogatory remarks
> 
> The original post about "smarty pants" in normal use, isn't really derogatory. Kids use them frequently, I use it with my husband all the time.
> 
> Are we creating confusion here?


But Elisa reported:


			
				Elisa68 said:
			
		

> smarty-pants: One who is obnoxiously self-assertive and arrogant (source Roget's II)
> Direi: _Sei un saccente / un saputello._


and you did not complain about that definition (at least the English part, of course  )

Uinni


----------



## Sierra

Well, I did talk about how _*I*_ would use it.  It is very much a colloquial expression, a synonym for it would be *"smart aleck".* 

I can't argue with an authority like Roget of course, but I always use Roget's thesaurus for alternative expressions and not so much definitions - I'd use a dictionary for exact meanings.  I just didn't understand that saying something like "sei un saccente" is derogatory, sorry.

Hopefully some other native English speaker can pop in and give their two cents' worth.

Cheers.


----------



## Elisa68

Sierra said:
			
		

> I'd use a dictionary for exact meanings. I just didn't understand that saying something like "sei un saccente" is derogatory, sorry.


There you are! 
An obnoxiously conceited and self-assertive person with pretensions to smartness or cleverness (Merriam -Webster).

But of course the usage could be different. In Italian if I say _saputello_ to someone I am joking, while if I say _saccente_ it is more like the dictionary definition, and I am not joking at all!


----------



## k8kate

Is there a cute or humorous expression in Italian similar to "smarty pants" in English? I am not looking for a direct translation, but a similar expression used by students to slightly tease the top student in the class. Grazie!


----------



## You little ripper!

_Sapientone_ is a smarty pants or a smart alek.  Please wait for confirmaton from a native.


----------



## Juri

secchione, sgobbone, arca di scienza...


----------



## Willi

"secchione" is the most common


----------



## k8kate

Thanks & grazie, everyone!


----------



## Ottavio Amato

What does it mean when someone calls you "Mr. Smarty Pants"?
Thanks
Ottavio


----------



## MonsieurAquilone

That you seem to know a lot about everything or, that you are being slightly rude (usually the first one).


----------



## Ottavio Amato

Allora "sapientone" potrebbe andare come traduzione?


----------



## MonsieurAquilone

Yes, I am pretty certain.


----------



## You little ripper!

This has been discussed before here.


----------



## Schrodinger's_Cat

So the proposed translations of *smarty-pants* are :

un saccente / un saputello / una saccante / un tuttologo / Sapientone / secchione, sgobbone, arca di scienza / secchione

I have found, *smarty-pants (Am)* = (colloq,spreg) primo m. (-a) della classe, saccente m./f., sputasentenze m./f.

e.g. *okay, smarty-pants, tell me how to do it okay* = tu che sai tutto dicci come si fa.

I would like to translate: *Be a smarty-pants, not a smarty-prude!*

A *prude* is, _puritano m. (-a), moralista m./f., persona f. che affetta pudore._

My attempt : Sii un ..., ma non un puritano/moralista/ non fa il moralista ??


----------



## underhouse

I think that the translations given so far are not correct:

the few times I heard using "smarty-pants" from English native speakers were toungue-in-cheek including a mum saying it to her 4 years old son, in the manner Sierra explained earlier in this thread.

In Italian, I would translate "a smarty-pants" as "un dritto", "uno che la sa lunga", or, using a stronger register, "un figlio di buona donna".

In my opinion, all the suggestions given so far (saccente, saputello, tuttologo, sapientone, etc.) are rather the translations of "bighead".


----------



## King Crimson

Sierra said:


> Well, I did talk about how _*I*_ would use it. It is very much a colloquial expression, a synonym for it would be *"smart aleck".*
> 
> I can't argue with an authority like Roget of course, but I always use Roget's thesaurus for alternative expressions and not so much definitions - I'd use a dictionary for exact meanings. I just didn't understand that saying something like "sei un saccente" is derogatory, sorry.
> 
> Hopefully some other native English speaker can pop in and give their two cents' worth.
> 
> Cheers.


 
Sierra, the American Heritage Dictionary defines "smarty-pants" as "smart aleck", thus confirming your interpretation; on the other hand, if I go on to look up the definition of "smart aleck", the first definition given is "A person regarded as obnoxiously self-assertive", then again we find the concept of obnoxious somehow conveyed by this word.

As for "saccente" and "sapientone", I would say they have different nuances; both imply knowledge, but  "saccente" is one who wants to boast his knowledge (so the word is somewhat derogatory), whereas sapientone is used in a laughing tone, so I think also in English they should be rendered by different words.


----------



## linodor

Per i futuri visitatori: "sputasentenze" è un'altra possibilità


----------



## Stain

Smarty pants= signorina/o so-tutto-io


----------



## luway

Sierra said:


> ....
> Would you still say "Dai... sei una *saccante*" in such situations?





Schrodinger's_Cat said:


> So the proposed translations of *smarty-pants* are :
> un saccente / un saputello / una *saccante* / un tuttologo / Sapientone / secchione, sgobbone, arca di scienza / secchione....



Sempre per chi visiterà il thread in futuro: attenzione, 'saccante' non è un vocabolo italiano 

Ho comunque anche una domanda... Pur avendo letto definizioni e thread riguardanti 'sassy', mi resta un dubbio: questo aggettivo viene a volte usato anche come fosse un sinonimo di 'smarty pants'?


----------



## ☺

Anch'io per chi visiterà il post in futuro aggiungo la mia traduzione: *Professorone*


----------



## italo-canadese

My two cents:

"secchione" = generally has a negative connotation = "nerd" / "geek" in English.

"smarty-pants" = generally used in playful spirit = "saputello" in Italian (my favourite amongst the list of great alternatives in this thread, except for "secchione", in my opinion).


----------



## fabrylilly

Taniaa said:


> How would you translate this phrase into Italian: "you're a smarty pants!"?



Io direi: mister so tutto io....


----------

