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I have heard this word in other languages. It refers (in the bad sense) to those persons who are really hard working, study a lot, memorize, but in fact do not have the intelligence knack. They are not wise, but hardworking.

herisson
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Kristof Tak
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    I think the closest English has is "book smart", but that implies naïveté, not a lack of intelligence (in other words, book smart people are smart, just not wise). – Dan Bron Sep 24 '14 at 16:59
  • What's the word in other languages? – Elliott Frisch Sep 24 '14 at 17:28
  • I had thought that the word might be "a swot" (at least in certain dialects); to me it has a negative connotation of someone who works hard but lacks actual aptitude. But the OED entry does not seem to confirm this negative connotation. –  Sep 24 '14 at 17:53
  • @ElliottFrisch "cow" – Kristof Tak Sep 24 '14 at 19:41
  • @WolfgangKuehne How udderly ridiculous. – Elliott Frisch Sep 24 '14 at 19:45
  • I'm somewhat inclined to think that while there may be a word that partially approximates the idea, that the concept itself is not really one that is part of the stock of American stereotypes. We tend to assume that hard workers who study a lot are also generally fairly intelligent. – ohwilleke Jan 31 '17 at 07:11
  • A "plug 'n chugger" is an engineering student who can only solve problems that are presented in a form that drops straight in to a formula. It is definitely a disparaging term. But someone who manages to get by with hard work is not often disparaged. There's also cookbook chemistry (which seems to have been embraced https://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-Cookbook-Original-Study/dp/1453813454 ). – Phil Sweet Mar 12 '17 at 02:01

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Such a person might be called a grind:-

Informal A student who works or studies excessively.

[American Heritage Dictionary via The Free Dictionary].

This doesn't invariably mean someone not particularly bright, but it carries that implication (they are grinding facts into their head, mechanically and without inspiration).

Brian Hooper
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"Book Smart" ~ having a lot of academic knowledge learned from books and studying, but not necessarily knowing much about people and living in the real world

Diana
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You might mean "Dweeb".

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Know about it here.

Mohamed Hamza
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