I‘m not sure anymore what the word smart means. The more it is used, the less it seems to mean. When someone is described as “really smart,” is that favorable or unfavorable?

It used to be much simpler. In school, smart was what the best students were called, ratings being based simply on grades and class standing. Other flattering adjectives which could have been used to measure people’s worth–wise, thoughtful, solid, profound, intelligent–were rarely, if ever, invoked. Smart meant getting good grades, and getting good grades was what school was all about.

When I first came to Washington in…