wisecrackn.

1924 G. Ade Let. 20 Dec. (1973) 101 When Geraghty came yesterday, both of us had thought of putting in another character, a young wise-crack small town loafer,..who thinks he is very sly.

1925 Sat. Evening Post 14 Feb. 44/1 The Palace, Chicago, will howl at a wise crack, a nifty, that Duluth audiences won't even flag as it flies over their heads.

1928 Daily Express 15 Mar. 2/3 The audience had been amused by wise-crack dialogue of the wonderful American variety. ‘That guy's so crooked the tears run down his back,’ was one remark.

1950 G. B. Shaw Buoyant Billions 98 The satirical humor of Aristophanes, the wisecracks of Confucius, the precepts of the Buddha.

1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren ix. 174 He might..have seen sense in the wisecracks which..scientifically minded boys indulge in..: ‘What is the matter?’ ‘That which occupies space.’

1977 Home Office: Rep. Comm. Future of Broadcasting ii. 15 in Parl. Papers 1976–7 (Cmnd. 6753) VI. 1 Lord Hill..saw no reason why the BBC should have been expected to apologise for a wisecrack in a satire programme..that if you can see the Prime Minister's lips moving you know he is lying.

1979 R. Jaffe Class Reunion (1980) i. viii. 109 Say only nice, polite, ladylike things, no nasty wisecracks.

1946 Sat. Rev. Lit. (U.S.) 2 Nov. 41/1 Both authors wisecrack their way through adverse circumstances.

1949 ‘H. Robbins’ Dream Merchants (1950) 144 Jane saw him come into the office. ‘If it ain't the vice-president himself!’ she wisecracked. ‘How's the picture business?’

1979 Fortune 21 May 71/1 Fraser wisecracks that the Carter Administration's voluntary wage guidelines have ‘self-destructed’.

1982 Daily Tel. 11 May 14 He has defended rioters..with such vigour as to alarm his fellow lawyers, one of whom wisecracked to me: ‘Who will rid us of this turbulent pest?’

1915 Call (San Francisco) 30 Apr. 17 Wisecrackin' city fellers ain't got nuthin' on you.

1924 P. Marks Plastic Age 28 The lights flashed on and the crowd filed out, ‘wise-cracking’ about the picture.

1927 New Republic 12 Oct. 218/2 He has the knack of wise-cracking, and his dialogue is of that slick and well oiled kind that you may meet in good vaudeville.

1940 R. Graves & A. Hodge Long Week-end xx. 345 Everyday life could be made interesting on the screen without fictitious drama or wise~cracking comment.

1982 E. North Anc. Enemies viii. 105 Liz reminds me..of Tammy, who was tough and wise-cracking.

1923 N.Y. Times 9 Sept. vii. 2 Wise-cracker, a city fellow who makes wise remarks.

1924 P. Marks Plastic Age 113 Carl the flippant, the voluble, the ‘wise-cracker’, lost his tongue.

1939 J. Joyce Finnegans Wake 33 It has been blurtingly bruited by certain wisecrackers.. that he suffered from a vile disease.

1949 G. B. Shaw Sixteen Self Sketches xiv. 82 Without him I might have been a mere literary wise~cracker, like Carlyle and Ruskin.

1977 Rolling Stone 21 Apr. 58/1 Jim Rockford is a worldly wisecracker.