Smart boy

Hello and welcome to SoundCzech, Radio Prague’s Czech language course in which you can learn new phrases with the help of song lyrics. Today’s song is by the group Chinaski and is called Chytrej kluk – or smart boy.

Chytrej kluk means smart boy or clever boy and in this case the lyrics go “when a smart boy meets a pretty girl, it’s not a foregone conclusion, he’ll first add up what she would cost him, and then decide whether to approach her”. Not very romantic, but then Chinaski usually keep their feet very much on the ground.

There are a number of negative phrases you are likely to hear in connection with the word smart or chytrej– people often say “chytrej jako radio” meaning clever as the radio – about someone who has an answer to everything and talks far too much. A more modern version of that, which appeared in the Czech language only recently, is “chytrej jako Wikipedie”– smart as Wikipedia. And I’ve also heard “chytrej jako novinář” smart as a journalist. Nice isn’t it? Though not entirely flattering.

There are a few quaint, old-fashioned Czech phrases denoting cleverness, though you are not likely to hear them very often these days. Older people may mention that someone has an open head – "má hlavu otevřenou" meaning open to new information – in other words they are not thick-headed. Or they may say that someone or other has been eating a lot of smart porridge – “jedl vtipnou kaši”. Of course I was fed that all the time, which is why I am now as smart as the radio. This is Daniela Lazarová saying thanks for learning Czech with me and na shledanou!