Smarter Than the Average Smat/SmatteRecently, I complimented a cherished acquaintance of mine by saying that he was “smarter than the average smat/smatte.” Some of you may be sufficiently comfortable with Québécois slang so as to detect the intended sense of this bilingual phrasing. The word “smat”, for which an alternative spelling might be “smatte”, is a deformed Québécois pronunciation of the English “smart” denoting “nice, sympathetic, intelligent” and the like. Generally speaking, it is used as a compliment as in “elle est vraiement smat, celle-là.” However, it can be used ironically as in “C’est un vrai smat, celui-là. C’est un osti de smat!” indicating that the so-described person is “too smart for their own good.” Careful attention to context, the speaker’s tone of voice and facial expression give clues as to his/her intentions … “t’es un vrai smatte, toé-là!”, if delivered with pursed lips, should not be taken as a compliment!
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