how to say “to be a smart aleck” in Hebrew
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לְהִתְחַכֵּם
Along the theme of wisdom that we touched upon earlier this week is the behavior of using intelligence and wisdom for purposes of self exploitation.
In English we call this being a smart aleck or being a wise guy – in English the concept is expressed with a noun.
In Hebrew, we use a verb: לְהִתְחַכֵּם (leh-heet-khah-KEM). This verb is formed using the root for wisdom, ח.כ.מ (kh.k.m), plugged into the reflexive-intensive התפעל form. The word appears in the Biblical book of קֹהֶלֶת – Ecclesiastes (koh-HEH-let), where it means overly-wise. It also appears in the book of שְׁמוֹת – Exodus (sheh-MOHT), in the phrase הָבָה נִתְחַכְּמָה לוֹ (HAH-vah neet-khah-keh-MAH loh) – let us outsmart him (them).
An example you might hear in a man-to-man talk:
אַל תִּתְחַכֵּם עִם אִשְׁתְּךָ, לֹא כְּדַאי.
Don’t be a wise guy with your wife, it’s not worth it.
(ahl teet-khah-KEM eem eesh-teh-KHAH, loh keh-DAH-ee)
Morphed into an abstract noun, להתחכם becomes הִתְחַכְּמוּת – a wisecrack (heet-khah-keh-MOOT).
An example you might find on the lips of an exasperated high-school teacher:
דַּי עִם הַהִתְחַכְּמוּיוֹת!
Enough with the wisecracks!
(DAH-ee eem hah-heet-khah-keh-moo-YOHT)
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