Borrowed fromGermanBesserwisser.
Besserwisser (pluralBesserwissers)
- Aknow-it-all,wiseguy,wiseacre,smart aleck.
1973, Robert G. Collins, Kenneth McRobbie,The Eastern European Imagination in Literature, page103:They are notBesserwissers; they just know better because they have had the experience. Capitalism has no lure for them, as socialism does for their West Central European counterparts.
- 1993, Ullica Segerstråle,Bringing the Scientist Back In, in the anthologyControversial science: from content to contention (Thomas Brante, Steve Fuller, William Lynch,editors):
- There is an authoritarian ring to many of the new approaches to the sociology of scientific knowledge, aBesserwisser attitude, whereby the sociologist knows best and does not need to consult with the object of his or her study.
1995, Gordon A. Craig, “Konrad Adenauer and the United States”, in Reiner Pommerin, editor,The American Impact on Postwar Germany, Berghahn Books,→ISBN,page 7:[…] that Adenauer was always aBesserwisser who was convinced that other people, even when they were heads of government in other countries, did not understand their own interests as well as he did[…]
2006, Arvi Hurskainen, Lotta Harjula, Maaria Ylänkö,Africa in the long run: festschrift in the honour of Professor Arvi Hurskainen:The proverb functions as a warning to a ‘Besserwisser’, because at the end a ‘know-it-all’ will drive away even his or her best friends.
Compound ofbesser(“better”) +wissen(“know”) +-er(“-er”), literally“better-knower”.
- IPA(key): /ˈbɛsɐˌvɪsɐ/(Germany, Austro-Bavarian)
- IPA(key): /ˈb̥ɛsːɐˌvɪsːɐ/(Austro-Bavarian)
- IPA(key): /ˈb̥ɛsːərˌvɪsːər/(Switzerland, Austro-Bavarian)
- Hyphenation:Bes‧ser‧wis‧ser
Besserwisser m (strong,genitiveBesserwissers,pluralBesserwisser,feminineBesserwisserin)
- (derogatory)know-it-all,wiseguy,wiseacre,smart aleck
- Synonyms:Klugscheißer,Schlaumeier,Oberschlauer,(Bavaria)Gscheidhaferl
Er ist ein solcherBesserwisser, dass nicht einmal die Lehrer mit ihm diskutieren mögen.- He’s such aknow-it-all even the teachers don’t want to argue with him.
1905,Theodor Fontane,Zeus in Mission:Gewiß, die Deutschen, / Sie taugen auch nicht viel die lieben Schlingel, / SindBesserwisser, knurrn und querulieren, / Und schreiben Bücher, drin sie mir beweisen: / Es sei nicht viel mit mir; im letzten Grunde / Bestünd’ ich nur durch Compromiß und Gnade.- Certainly, the Germans / They are not good for much, the dear scoundrels, / They’reknow-it-alls, they growl and groan, / And write books, in which they prove to me: / There’s not much to me; in the last instance / I’d consist only of compromise and grace.
Declension ofBesserwisser [masculine, strong]
