<p>Originally it means empirical wisdom gleaned from the streets.</p>

<p>市井聪明, 街市里积累的智慧</p>

<p>市井 [street]∶街市,
    [urban vulgar class]  指城市中流俗之人</p>

<p>Source: <a href="http://baike.baidu.com/view/849797.htm" rel="nofollow">http://baike.baidu.com/view/849797.htm</a></p>

<p>聪明【英译】wise；sensitive clever；smart</p>

<p>Source: <a href="http://baike.baidu.com/subview/95047/11119951.htm" rel="nofollow">http://baike.baidu.com/subview/95047/11119951.htm</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-29T02:51:33.763Z
I think just "市井" works as well.
tvk
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-28T09:11:13.053Z
2014-09-30T03:43:22.113Z
2014-09-30T03:43:22.113Z
George Chen
<p>老江湖(neutral)</p>

<p>or</p>

<p>老油条(somehow negative)、老浆糊(somehow negative)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-06T17:13:44.063Z
2014-11-06T17:13:44.063Z
Joseph S WU
<p>I'm thinking maybe 能幹 or 經驗老道 has some similar meaning to it.</p>

<p>能幹: capable, useful.</p>

<p>經驗老道: have abundant experiences.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-30T11:23:33.443Z
2014-10-30T11:23:33.443Z
narcia
<p>It seems that no exact word for it, we can say he is a 百事通。</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-28T08:40:33.677Z
2014-09-28T08:40:33.677Z
Daniel Yang
<p>小聪明
that would work coz this is the closet expression
市井聪明 could work but it's more of a written style while my answer could used basically everywhere</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-30T10:54:06.550Z
小聪明 is rather negative and would be better translated as 'smart ass' than 'street smart'...
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-30T00:38:52.727Z
2014-09-30T00:38:52.727Z
Toasted Chinese
<p>In Cantonese there's a saying called:  </p>

<p>世界仔</p>

<p>meaning: a person that has street smart, excellent at social skill and dealing with people</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-05T16:15:54.753Z
2014-11-05T16:15:54.753Z
Alex
<p>iciba has １ example sentence with 他有都市人的精明劲儿，web search yields <a href="http://www.unsv.com/voanews/words-and-idioms/lessons/152/" rel="nofollow">http://www.unsv.com/voanews/words-and-idioms/lessons/152/</a> Lesson 152 - street smart （two-way street）.
Note that VOA流行美国习惯用语 Lesson １５２
concerns the noun ＂street smart(s)＂，there also is Lesson ２０ <a href="http://www.unsv.com/voanews/popular-american/lessons/20/" rel="nofollow">http://www.unsv.com/voanews/popular-american/lessons/20/</a> for the adjective which seems to indicate that the VOA people were not aware of a simple precise Chinese analog。</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-28T07:55:39.937Z
2014-09-28T10:04:32.277Z
2014-09-28T10:04:32.277Z
user6065
<p>How to translate street smart into Mandarin?</p>

<p>Baidu gives:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>n.     城市生活方式、生存能力</p>
</blockquote>

<p>but that's can't be right...</p>

<p>As in:
<code>A street smart cop.</code></p>

<p>or</p>

<p><code>A cop with street-smarts.</code></p>

<translation>
Translation: Street-Smarts/Street Smart?
# Translation: Street-Smarts/Street Smart?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-09-28)

How to translate street smart into Mandarin?

Baidu gives:

> n. 城市生活方式、生存能力

but that's can't be right...

As in:
`A street smart cop.`

or

`A cop with street-smarts.`

**Tags:** translation

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## 7 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-09-28. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

Originally it means empirical wisdom gleaned from the streets.

市井聪明, 街市里积累的智慧

市井 [street]∶街市,
[urban vulgar class] 指城市中流俗之人

Source: <http://baike.baidu.com/view/849797.htm>

聪明【英译】wise；sensitive clever；smart

Source: <http://baike.baidu.com/subview/95047/11119951.htm>

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: I think just "市井" works as well.  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2014-11-06. Score: 1

老江湖(neutral)

or

老油条(somehow negative)、老浆糊(somehow negative)


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### Answer by username_4 on 2014-10-30. Score: 0

I'm thinking maybe 能幹 or 經驗老道 has some similar meaning to it.

能幹: capable, useful.

經驗老道: have abundant experiences.


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### Answer by username_5 on 2014-09-28. Score: 0

It seems that no exact word for it, we can say he is a 百事通。


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### Answer by username_6 on 2014-09-30. Score: 0

小聪明
that would work coz this is the closet expression
市井聪明 could work but it's more of a written style while my answer could used basically everywhere

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: 小聪明 is rather negative and would be better translated as 'smart ass' than 'street smart'...  

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### Answer by username_7 on 2014-11-05. Score: 0

In Cantonese there's a saying called:

世界仔

meaning: a person that has street smart, excellent at social skill and dealing with people


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### Answer by username_8 on 2014-09-28. Score: 0

iciba has １ example sentence with 他有都市人的精明劲儿，web search yields <http://www.unsv.com/voanews/words-and-idioms/lessons/152/> Lesson 152 - street smart （two-way street）.
Note that VOA流行美国习惯用语 Lesson １５２
concerns the noun ＂street smart(s)＂，there also is Lesson ２０ <http://www.unsv.com/voanews/popular-american/lessons/20/> for the adjective which seems to indicate that the VOA people were not aware of a simple precise Chinese analog。


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