I really dislike the phrase "street smart"

I feel like it's been years since I've heard that phrase, but I just heard it again and I'm surprised by how annoyed I get by it. It feels like a lazy term when there are so many other words to use that can describe whatever trait you are trying to vocalize.

Street smart to me always felt like a phrase used by someone who has nothing going for them and yet they don't want to admit it so they invent in imaginary badge of proficiency to feel like they are worth something.

I guess you just ain't from the streets then, dawg.

Ironically enough I lived next to a crack house for the first 18 years of my life and I saw people get killed in gang fights.

Well, were you the one doing the killing?

I thought it was now Ghetto Skillz?

I've always seen it used to describe people who have been successful despite a lack of formal education in their field, not people who have nothing going for them. That sounds alright with me. In fact any other definition of the word and its use is fine with me.

Usually people mean it as in 'has real-world experience in their field rather than formal training.' It is a bit silly, though.

I don't hate the term, I hate a lot of people that use it though. Especially around Boston. "AH YA THINK YA SO FAHKIN SMAHT WIT ALL YA BOOKLEARNIN BUT YA GUT NO FAHKIN STREET SMAHTS KEHD. YOU NEVA WENT OUT TO BUY SOME PERC 30'S ON DAWT AVE YA FAHKIN NERD." I think street smarts are very necessary, especially now, but when fuck-up's use it against successful people I get kinda irritated. And that's saying something since I'm a bit of a fuck-up myself.

I read all that with Ben Affleck's voice.

When I hear that phrase, I think it means that the person has good common sense and an ability to read people. It's usually used in opposition to formalized learning on a subject, but I don't see the two as being mutually exclusive myself.

I read it in Charlie Kelly's.

I read it as Matt Damon from Good Will Hunting.

Roll Streetwise, DC 22.

While imagining him in a really creepy nun disguise.

I should watch that. I think i stopped after season 5 because i burned out on it by watching all 5 seasons in about 2 weeks in preparation for season 6. It's been long enough that i could probably appreciate the show once again.

Street smarts is just what it sounds like. Gaining your knowledge from learning on hand, or in the streets. You know, as opposed to learning from books.

I like to think of it as this: book smarts means that you have learned a lot from books but lack any real world experiences. With street smarts you've learned everything from doing something first hand without the help of schooling.

I also believe it can extend to things like experience handling situations and not getting taken advantage of. Like if someone was looking to buy a used car for instance. A street smart person might know the game the salesman is trying to play while someone that's been coddled by school might believe anything that he's told.

Lastly I don't think that book smarts and street smarts have to be mutually exclusive.

I prefer "improvised learning".

What is your opinion on "hoopz?"

Street smart does not mean you got hustle, it's just sort of been co-opted that way in hip hop slang to reference coming from the streets.

A better way to look at it is that someone who is "street smart" has real world experience, and a good head on their shoulders for thinking on their feet

Book smart is for people who learned in classrooms and by listening and observing. I've known a few "book smart" people who were complete idiots unable to do anything beyond memorizing text books really well. Street smart just means more practical knowledge

Jeff is street smart. Brad is book smart.

Ryan cooks smart.

Yep

The implication being that people who are "street smart" are actually smart and people who are "book smart" are stupid in the grand scheme of things, which makes no sense.

Then that makes you ''street smart'' you know how to live in that enviorment. It may seem like nothing to you, most people can't live in those places without being robbed blind etc...

Street smart and I'm book smart. Coulda been a chemist cos' I cook smart. Only thing can stop me is me, hey, and Imma stop when the hood stop.

I don't think that's the implication. I think that it just refers to different types of knowledge, I have never thought of the phrase "street smart" as a judgement about someone's intelligence (or lack thereof).

Actually, yeah, that makes a ton of sense.

That's not how I meant it, I just meant they are intelligent in different ways. Nor did I mean they are mutually exclusive and one is inherently better than the other. Nor does it mean that someone with without formal education is automatically street smart.