In the OED it says, “[After F. as.] In the war of 1914–18, an airman who had brought down ten enemy machines; a crack airman.” The word is used in this sense in French but means nearly 10 enemy aircraft. The ace was the word just below the 10 in an old card game from the 18th century. The name of the game is manille. So, the expression, il est un as, means he has shot down almost 10 planes, i.e. 9 so far.
Hi Earle,
I thought the French word had an English origin, and it is confirmed by CNRTKL
Étymol. et Hist. 1854, 17 sept. turf. (Dillon, Sport, p. 2, col. 3 ds Bonn.); 1892, 9 déc. p. ext. « champion (d'un sport quelconque) » (Rousseau, Vélo, p. 1, col. 1, ibid.). Subst. angl. crack « ce qui est digne d'éloge, exceptionnel » employé d'abord en parlant d'un cheval (1637 ds NED) puis d'un joueur; déverbal de to crack up « faire l'éloge de quelqu'un, le vanter », to crack signifiant proprement « faire du bruit en cassant, en craquant » d'où « prononcer à voix haute; fanfaronner, se vanter » (NED), v. aussi craquer. http://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/crack
Kind regards
Hans
Hi earle,
I understood the first message as a comment on the etymology of crack.
CU
>> But, crack is usually as an adjective, <<
Not to mention as a noun or a verb.
Best regards, 4merCL
Indeed. But not all that often, especially a crack boxer might be confused with a boxer who is a crack addict.
Then you could, instead, say, "a crackerjack boxer."
>> especially a crack boxer might be confused with a boxer who is a crack addict. <<
Or, perhaps, the person in a crack lab whose function is to package the product for transportation or sale.
