# Fun etymological realization: "smacks of" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2023, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-etymological-realization-smacks-of/983378 "2023-04-30T18:53:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2023, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-etymological-realization-smacks-of/983378/1 "2023-04-30T18:53:36Z")
The other day I was thinking about the phrase “smacks of” (“That smacks of treason,” etc.), and wondered about its etymology. My first guess was that it was cognate to the German verb “schmecken” (“to taste”) - and surprisingly I was right [smack - Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smack#Etymology_1) ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-etymological-realization-smacks-of/983378/2 "2023-05-01T19:21:11Z")
Cool! To be filed under “Things I should have guessed (but didn’t)” ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-etymological-realization-smacks-of/983378/3 "2023-05-01T19:45:40Z")
Cool, congratulations! And what about smack in the middle, smack in the face, smack in the eye? Must be another etymological smack for lack of an _of_, as it does not work with _schmecken_. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-etymological-realization-smacks-of/983378/4 "2023-05-01T22:54:55Z")
That “smack” apparently comes from a different root, and is possibly onomatopoetic [smack | Etymology, origin and meaning of smack by etymonline](https://www.etymonline.com/word/smack) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-etymological-realization-smacks-of/983378/5 "2023-05-01T22:58:12Z")
“So watery…and yet there’s a smack of ham to it!” > **[Arrested Development - Hot Ham Water](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFIa6I5lVrk%2F)** > > Watery! And yet a smack of ham to it. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-etymological-realization-smacks-of/983378/6 "2023-05-01T23:02:21Z")
I like that etymonline, thanks! Straight to the favourites it went. And smack has a lot of meanings and possibly origins, it says. Cool. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-etymological-realization-smacks-of/983378/7 "2023-05-01T23:51:57Z")
[Etymonline.com](http://Etymonline.com) is way behind the times, or possibly way ahead of them. I looked there for smack dab, and found they said it was from 1892. But I put the term into [newspapers.com](http://newspapers.com) and the first hit is from June 20, 1874, in the Loudon, TN, Times. The story is an untitled anecdote as a space filler. > Young Jack got gloriously drunk, and kicked chairs and tables, crockery and Chinaware round generally and at dinnertime wound the thing up by taking old Jack smack dab, between the peepers, with a large dish of gravy. Every indication is that smack dab was a slang term as well known as peepers. Why it’s not found earlier is hard to say. It does probably evolve from slap-dab, which is found as early as 1863, not 1886, as the site says.