whip-smart?
I searched it on Google and found another phrase "smart as a whip". I guess both of them mean intelligent but I don't know what "whip" means here. I cannot associate any meaning of "whip" in the dictionary with "smartness" or "intelligence." Could you please help me? Thanks.

Question

Answer

Smart also means energetic and quick in movement - like snapping a whip.  It is a slight play on words.  Smart as a whip means having unusual and quick intelligence.
So the "smart" of a whip - energetic and quick - is replaced by the other meaning of smart - intelligent.

Answer

when somebody gets hit with a whip, we say it really "smarts"  (idiomatic expression)
this is an English expression.  give Sharp pain= "smarts"  it is just an expression we use....

not sure if you are familiar with this

لا تفوّت فرصة تعلّم لغة جديدة وأنت مرتاح في منزلك. تصفّح مجموعتنا المختارة من مدرّسي اللغات ذوي الخبرة وسجّل في درسك الأول الآن!