Green’s Dictionary of Slang

understanding, intelligence, awareness.

1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Scavey, Sense, knowledge. ‘Massa, me no scavey;’ master, I don’t know (negro language) perhaps from the French scavoir.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785].
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1856		C. Abbey diary 15 Dec. in Gosnell Before the Mast (1989) 101: I had ‘savee’ enough to take it to the Galley.
1858		in Trinidad Sentinel 8 Apr. n.p.: Cho! da massa wha da command Port a Spain Gazette, he no hab sabby nuf fou massa Hinde.
1859		Matsell Vocabulum 76: scavoir Sharp; cunning; knowledge.
1864, 1867, 1870		Hotten Sl. Dict. 220: savey [...] is a general word among the lower classes all over the world. It also means acuteness or cleverness; as, ‘That fellow has plenty of savey.’.
1871		B. Harte ‘Chiquita’ in Poems 54: Did you know Briggs of Tuolumne? / Busted hisself in White Pine, and blew out his brains down in ’Frisco? / Hedn’t no savey.
1875		Harte in Scribner’s Monthly Dec. 244: A little keer and a little sabe on my part, and there’s that family in the gulch made comfortable [DA].
1878		‘’Arry on Politics’ in Punch 11 May 205/2: It’s savvy and swagger as does it.
1883		Daily Trib. (Bismarck, ND) 5 Sept. 11/5: He’s an officer, you know, but he don’t seem to catch on, don’t seem to have no savey.
1885		Isle of Wight Obs. 6 June 5/5: Some old ’uns are gifted with savvy, but you’re not.
1888		W.B. Churchward Blackbirding In The South Pacific 59: [He] had too much ‘savee’ to kill the goose who laid the golden eggs.
1890		A.J. Vogan Black Police 297: I’m very glad you had the ‘savez’ to do so.
1891		‘’Arry on Arrius’ in Punch 26 Dec. 302/2: Dosser hain’t no more genuine savvy, he hain’t, than a ’aporth o’ snuff.
1895		Truth (Sydney) 21 Apr. 4/6: The majority of them have ‘savee’ enough to understand that their success [...] depends in great measure upon their concealing all they know.
1900		Bulletin (Sydney) 6 Oct. 25/3: Miners have done fairly well in the past, and good money has been earned at contract work by men who had ‘savee’ enough to ease-off when their shift rate was getting too high.
1907		S.E. White Arizona Nights II 225: I’m looking for a man with sand enough and sabe of the country enough to lead a posse after cattle-rustlers.
1911		E. Dyson ‘Nicholas Don and the Meek Almira’ in Benno and Some of the Push 16: A bloke with a bit iv sav ’n’ a toothpick kin trade himself off ez a haide-de-kong ’r somethin’.
1912		Van Loan ‘Ten-Thousand-Dollar Arm’ in Ten-Thousand-Dollar Arm 9: He’s got more baseball savvy than you or any other manager.
1913		J. London Valley of the Moon (1914) 311: We ain’t got the sabe, or the knack.
1914		Sport (Adelaide) 14 Mar. 5/1: Never mind Ern, you have more savee than Phyllis .
1914		Sport (Adelaide) 30 Oct. 5/6: DG has very little savey / But at the Pub he has a tabby.
1916		C.J. Dennis ‘The Game’ in Moods of Ginger Mick 109: But the ’eads ’ave ’ad the savvy fer to reckernise a bloke, / An’ permotion’s gettin’ common-sense at last.
1922		S. Lewis Babbitt (1974) 253: Now there’s a woman that’s got refinement, savvy, class!
1931		Lariat Apr. 53: You ain’t got much sabe [DA].
1931		O. Strange Law O’ The Lariat 22: No, sir, that dawg’s got savvy.
1939		V. Davis Gentlemen of the Broad Arrows 99: You’ve got enough savvy to get out of England.
1947		B. Schulberg Harder They Fall (1971) 280: He had enough ring savvy to give the crowd the kind of kayo they paid to see.
1957		G. Kersh Fowlers End (2001) 4: A Greek barber called Pappas cut up his girl friend in the barf, and put the pieces in a crate. Didn’t have the common savvy to gag her first.
1958		A. Fugard No-Good Friday (1993) 31: Toby didn’t have enough savvy to peddla dagga.
1969		‘Iceberg Slim’ Pimp 110: None of them had the guts or savvy for this rapid track.
1978		R.D. Pharr Giveadamn Brown (1997) 188: ‘Once he owns Harry’s muscle and savvy he can lean on you’.
1978		P. Theroux Picture Palace 88: He was success-conscious, impressionable, and had no political savvy.
1989		T. Blacker Fixx 190: Combining old Tory style with new Tory savvy.
1996		J. Cameron It Was An Accident 183: I get someone off the Council got a bit of savv.
1999		Guardian Media 14 June 8: n.p.: The boys and girls in matt black have got savvy.
2001		Week (US) 15 June 13: It’s also political savvy.
2017		L. McInerney Blood Miracles 73: [A] man of twenty years cannot achieve what Ryan has achieved without some savvy.
2019		P. Baker Fabulosa 297/1: savvy [...] 2. knowledge, practical sense, intelligence.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 251: I merged sight and savvy.