To clever by half

Please explain what is ment when someone says “Hes to clever by half”

I’m trying my darndest to restrain a sardonic response.

It means that the person in question is not, indeed, too clever at all.

Such a person outsmarts himself. He’s 1.5 times as smart as he should be.

Can you give me an example

Showing the boss his mistake.

Aw c;mon guys-----------it should read, “TOO clver by half”!

Wait, this supposed guy is a meat clever? How is that?

Disingenuous?

It either means he’s in the 2nd grade, or English isn’t his native language. :smiley:

Hereis one definition, using “clever” instead of “smart”:

Be too clever by half:
to be too confident of your own intelligence in a way that annoys other people:
She was too clever by half - always correcting the teacher or coming back with a smart answer.

No, that merely means that the person puts up a front - they purport to be speaking honestly, but in fact are dishonest or at least have hidden motives eg “[Politician of your choice] disingenously said that there were no plans to raise taxes” (ie there were in fact plans or something like them).

I have to wonder if you can see the irony of your attempt to correct other users.

Ah, Gaudere’s Law in action!

Of course he does! It was SUBTLE IRONY. Sheesh, everyone! Subtlety!

Say a man cheats on his wife

The smart man will use as little details as possible in the alibi , while the clever man will use too many details that will trip him up.

Declan

Uv corse!