Citations:smart cookie

Noun: "(informal) an entity regarded as clever, astute, or judicious"

 * 1955 — William F. Hallstead, "El Berty Rapido", Boys' Life, September 1955:
 * Maybe you've heard the old timers in the aviation racket had to be smart cookies. This pal of mine was a smart cookie and then some.
 * 1958 — Richard S. Prather, The Scrambled Yeggs, E-Reads, unnumbered page:
 * He knew his business, was a smart cookie — that's where he got his name — and kept his big ears open.
 * 1963 — Madeleine L'Engle, The Moon by Night, Square Fish (2008), ISBN 9780312379322, page 62:
 * How do you think my old man's done so well? He's a smart cookie and he's got good lawyers.
 * 1982 — Matthew Margolis & Catherine Swan, The Dog in Your Life, Vintage Books (1982), ISBN 9780394711744, page 194:
 * This dog is a smart cookie, almost too smart to live with. As long as you are in the house, he will sleep in his place or lie at your feet, the very model of canine perfection.
 * 1991 — John C. Dvorak, "Inside Track", PC Magazine, 12 November 1991:
 * Now what some smart cookie should do is design a machine that does not disable the original 486DX chip but puts it to work as some sort of dedicated controller.
 * 1992 — Eugene B. Fluckey, Thunder Below!: The USS Barb Revolutionizes Submarine Warfare in World War II, University of Illinois Press (1997), ISBN 0252066707, page 373:
 * Newland, lead cook and a smart cookie, would find some way to feed them if they got stranded ashore.
 * 1997 — Gerry Bucsis & Barbara Somerville, Training Your Pet Ferret, Barron's (1997), ISBN 0764100939, page 37:
 * Your ferret's one smart cookie. If you squeak and treat only when you want to put her back into her cage, she'll soon figure out what you're up to and think twice about coming.
 * 1998 — Robert Hellenga, The Fall of a Sparrow, Scribner (1998), ISBN 9780684850269, page 39:
 * "You're smart too. You're a smart cookie."
 * 1998 — Seth Goldstein, "DVD Not The Only Concern For Tape's Sell-Through Biz; DVD Packagers Roll 'Em Out", Billboard, 28 November 1998:
 * Is it a coincidence that Fox Home Entertainment, one smart cookie in sell-through, has designated the $170 million hit "There's Something About Mary" for rental?
 * 1999 — Jeffrey Toobin, A Vast Conspiracy, Random House (1999), ISBN 9780375502958, page 124:
 * Behind Paula's back, McMillan could be withering about her. She told Thomas's literary agent, "This is not a smart cookie. There is not much going on upstairs."
 * 2000 — Marjolijn Bijlefeld & Sharon K. Zoumbaris, Teen Guide to Personal Financial Management, Greenwood Press (2000), ISBN 0313311072, page 238:
 * We don't know where the name came from, but we do know that Nabisco was one smart cookie when it came up with the Oreo.
 * 2004 — Jan Fennell, The Dog Listener: Learn How to Communicate with Your Dog for Willing Cooperation, Quill (2004), ISBN 0060089466, page 112:
 * The cleverest dogs are always the most difficult to realign. They are constantly asking the question why? Why should I do what you say? Why can't I carry on doing what I please? Simmy certainly fell into the smart cookie category.
 * 2005 — Merrill Joan Gerber, Glimmering Girls: A Novel of the Fifties, University of Wisconsin Press (2005), ISBN 029921060X, page 51:
 * "I knew you were a smart cookie," he says.
 * 2005 — Stephen M. Schaefer, Building Great Working Relationships at Work and at Home, No Limits Publishing (2005), ISBN 1931863997, page 14:
 * Regardless of what you believe, what others say, even what your history or your resume indicate, you are one smart cookie.
 * 2008 — Douglas E. Egenolf, The Last Seasons: The Story of the Bird Hunter, Dog Ear Publishing (2008), ISBN 9781598587913, page 64:
 * This dog was one smart cookie and was quickly picking up the game plan.
 * 2009 — Mary Kay Andrews, The Fixer Upper, Harper (2010), ISBN 9780060837389, page 155:
 * I think you're a smart cookie. And I bet a smart cookie like you can come up with a way to keep from going to jail."
 * 2010 — Hanne Grice, Playing with Your Dog: Have a Smarter, Fitter, Happier Dog, Xlibris (2010), ISBN 9781453529652, page 35:
 * If he brings you the correct toy immediately, your dog is a smart cookie so lavish him with praise and reward.
 * 2011 — Monica Ali, Untold Story: A Novel, Scribner (2011), ISBN 9781451635485, page 32:
 * "I'll leave him to you," said Esther. "Got a family coming by in a minute and if I can get them to take one of the older dogs while this smart cookie is out of sight, all the better and amen."
 * 2011 — Laura Lippman, The Most Dangerous Thing, HarperCollins (2011), ISBN 9780061706516, page 150:
 * A smart cookie would get out before she's forced out.
 * 2011 — Perry Luntz, Whiskey and Spirits for Dummies, Wiley Publishing, Inc. (2011), ISBN 9780470117699, unnumbered page:
 * Then some smart cookie in the distillery realized that barley has proportionately more starch than oats
 * 2017 — Donald Trump, in an interview for CBS, April 30:
 * And at a very young age, [Kim Jong Un] was able to assume power. A lot of people, I'm sure, tried to take that power away, whether it was his uncle or anybody else. And he was able to do it. So obviously, he's a pretty smart cookie.