# The word "clever" in UK vs US English **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 28, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407 "2012-12-28T18:33:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/21 "2012-12-29T12:58:25Z")
The way it always seemed to me, the difference between “smart” and “clever” is summed up by this saying: “A \*clever \*person can get out of tight spots in which a _smart_ person would never have found themselves in the first place.” ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/22 "2012-12-29T14:05:45Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Evil people can be clever too, but only bad guys can be crafty. “[Clever girl.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8o5fxnDUjs)” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/23 "2012-12-29T15:16:23Z")
Clever connotes creativity. Intelligence should be the same, but it’s often used as a substitute for knowledgeable, which is not quite the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/24 "2012-12-29T15:36:40Z")
I think Americans would be more likely to call a movie or a song clever if it is witty than to call a person clever. Clever actually seems like a closer synonym to witty than to intelligent, though an idea can also be clever. I’d define it as witty or ingenious, whether applied to a person our a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/25 "2012-12-29T15:47:27Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Yep, brilliant is used in place of ‘great’. Awesome sounds really OTT to our ears. If a Brit ever says awesome to you, you will know he’s taking the piss. I spend about four hours a day on the phone with Brits. One uses brilliant a lot. I use “cool” the same way (a tongue in cheek habit). Rubbish is another word - we use crap, they use rubbish. But after four hours a day for a year we’ve started using each others words. Right now, its with each other, but I feel its going to creep. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/26 "2012-12-29T16:39:27Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > “[Clever girl.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8o5fxnDUjs)” That’s what I thought of as soon as I saw the word ‘clever’ in the thread title. And on a side note, ‘clever’ is one of those words that makes less sense as a cohesive word the more you look at it. Clever, clever, clever. Yup, it’s disintegrating into individual letters without any relation to one another. Not very clever of me, really. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/27 "2012-12-29T16:59:48Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > Canadian here. To me, clever has a connotation of exploiting or circumventing the rules, but in an admirable way. It often refers to sudden insight rather than deliberate, preplanned rules-lawyering. > > Crafty, on the other hand, seems to mean “smart, in a bad way”. It seems to typically be used by racists (as in, “Those \ are really crafty. They’re always hatching some sort of scheme.”). You are right. I would use these terms this way, too. Not very clever of me yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/28 "2012-12-29T20:43:23Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > “[Clever girl.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8o5fxnDUjs)” exactly. clever can outsmart! i do get in trouble with smart some times. i then need to explain that smart in regards to your glasses did not mean you look like a stern librarian, rather you look fashionable. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/29 "2012-12-29T21:40:16Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Clever connotes creativity. Intelligence should be the same, but it’s often used as a substitute for knowledgeable, which is not quite the same thing. That’s how I hear it, too. I don’t get any negative connotation to “clever.” It just usually connotes a bit more “out-of-the-box” thinking or novel solutions than “intelligent” does. They can be used somewhat interchangeably, but, usually, those are the shades of meaning that I hear, as a US English speaker. When I hear “what a clever idea!” I think of an idea that requires a bit of lateral thinking, say. There’s a spark of creativity and surprise in it. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/30 "2012-12-29T22:11:12Z")
I’m a Canadian and I use the word clever, quite often, as do the people I know. It raises no eyebrows and has no negative connotation that we’re aware of. ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/31 "2012-12-29T22:44:03Z")
American here. I had a gf who would exclaim, “Arent you the clever bee!” to compliment someone for whatever awesome thing s/he did. She pronounced it “cleever” tho. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/32 "2012-12-30T05:52:14Z")
“Now you’re just being clever.” Is a British way of admonishing someone. So they have a negative way of using it. For the last decade or so I’ve occasional used “clever” to mean something different form “intelligent” to describe some things like arguments against evolution or the deceptive names given to acts of congress. But I feel like I’ve been muddening the word. From now on I think I’ll just use “underhanded.” I’ll leave clever for things I can respect. > [@drewtwo99](#): > > I have noticed that the British TV shows use the word “brilliant” in the way Americans might use “awesome”. Brilliant to us just means very intelligent or well-thought out, ie a brilliant plan, a brilliant doctor, etc, but in the UK, brilliant gets applied to lots of different things. For some reason “awesome” is the one word that got looked up in a dictionary and causes people to become smug and hold it to its literal definition. But if you say something is “brilliant” no one sarcastically asks if it’s shining too brightly for you and offers a pair of sunglasses. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/33 "2012-12-30T06:05:11Z")
> [@shantih](#): > > And on a side note, ‘clever’ is one of those words that makes less sense as a cohesive word the more you look at it. Clever, clever, clever. Yup, it’s disintegrating into individual letters without any relation to one another. Just wait till you someday hear someone say, “This is a tough problem, we need to get some cleverage on it.” ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/34 "2012-12-30T06:35:15Z")
> [@Aquadementia](#): > > For the last decade or so I’ve occasional used “clever” to mean something different form “intelligent” to describe some things like arguments against evolution or the deceptive names given to acts of congress. But I feel like I’ve been muddening the word. From now on I think I’ll just use “underhanded.” > I’ll leave clever for things I can respect. I think there’s often a strong element of sarcasm when most people talk about “clever” arguments against evolution. I’m thinking of a creationist who _thinks_ she has a novel or at least little-known argument that she can use to dumbfound non-creationists. In truth, this “clever” argument is always trite at best and patently idiotic at worst. To expand on my earlier post, I think that cleverness is used to solve problems, and craftiness is used to create problems. Only a crafty person would seek out a loophole that allows him to break the spirit of a law while maintaining the letter, allowing him to (presumably for some sort of gain) technically-not-break the law with impunity. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/35 "2012-12-30T08:38:44Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > To expand on my earlier post, I think that cleverness is used to solve problems, and craftiness is used to create problems. Only a crafty person would seek out a loophole that allows him to break the spirit of a law while maintaining the letter, allowing him to (presumably for some sort of gain) technically-not-break the law with impunity. Hmm. How does “cunning” fit in? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/36 "2012-12-30T08:41:31Z")
Americans tend to use the “Brilliant!” sarcastically. Like a person trips and another would say “Brilliant!” I like “clever” as it is used in Jurassic Park when the raptor has tricked the hunter. “Clever girl” ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/37 "2012-12-30T10:00:50Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Hmm. How does “cunning” fit in? Reading this thread, I’ve been thinking it’s at least partly along a sort of moral spectrum, or at least alignment with the speaker’s interests or admiration. Clever -\> cunning -\> crafty; clever’s good (or at least appreciative, as in “clever girl” above), cunning may or may not be good, and crafty almost never is. And all three are typically used IMHO to mean a form of intelligence that’s effective or insightful but usually not that deep or truly creative. Stuff like figuring out an unforeseen use for some device, a hole in someone’s defenses, a simple modification to some tool that has everyone slapping their forehead and wondering why _they_ never thought of it; as opposed to something like discovering new subatomic particles or laws of physics or grasping mathematics that 99% of the population can’t. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/38 "2012-12-30T14:22:13Z")
I gave a math problem to my third graders, something like this: -The number in the hundreds place is the sum of 4+5. -The number in the tens place is even. -The number in the ones place is greater than the number in the tens place. -What could the number be? I told the students that there were five different possible answers, and that if they could find one answer, they should try to find all answers. One boy found all five answers pretty quickly. That kid was smart. A girl raised her hand. “Mr. Dorkness,” she said, “You didn’t tell us what number was in the thousands place. Couldn’t there be more answers?” That kid was clever. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/39 "2012-12-30T15:47:11Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > “Clever” just isn’t used that often in contemporary American English. I am an American and I use it and hear it used all the time. I think “clever” has a more narrow meaning that “smart” or intelligent". The two latter adjectives would describe someone with broad knowledge whereas the former might indicate specific knowledge about something or some methods, but not necessarily encyclopedic knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407/40 "2012-12-30T17:45:27Z")
Another American here to ditto that “clever” means smart, but connotes a certain amount of craftiness. I didn’t realize it was a seldom used word. > [@SanVito](#): > > Yep. For some reason, it sounds like a really exaggerated expression, only to be used for purely ‘awesome’ events like, I dunno, the eruption of Vesuvius or something. Me promising to pick you up from the station is not ‘awesome’. It is, however, brilliant 😉 Hey, “awesome” is a perfectly cromulent way to describe anything that falls within the range of just plain cool to absolutely amazing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-clever-in-uk-vs-us-english/645407.md?page=3)