Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. US) a witty retort, a smart comment, a joke at someone else’s expense; also attrib.

1911		G. Bronson-Howard Enemy to Society 22: Mr. Karlinsky was designated a ‘fence,’ a term which even the uninitiated of to-day have learned to know is a ‘wise-crack’ equivalent to ‘receiver of stolen goods.’.
1920		R. Lardner Big Town 87: She’s one of these here gals that can’t bear to see a conversation die out and thinks it’s her place to come through with a wise crack whenever they’s a vacuum.
1930		E. Glyn Flirt and Flapper 61: Flapper: We look at the show [...] and make wisecracks.
1932		(con. 1910s) J.T. Farrell Young Lonigan in Studs Lonigan (1936) 110: The older guys all laughed at Young Lonigan’s wise-crack.
1946		S. Jackson Indiscreet Guide to Soho 53: His wisecracks would make a script-writer’s fortune.
1952		(con. 1944) Wilder & Blum Stalag 17 [film script] 38: schulz: (Laughing) Always joking. Always making wisecrackers!
1955		K. Williams Diaries 11 June 115: The only difference between him & the other bogus English directors is this swank personality, and New Yorker wisecracks.
1963		A. Baron Lowlife (2001) 43: Wisecracks and practical joking go on all the time.
1978		R. Caron Go-Boy! 22: Somebody was sure to give out with a wisecrack and that would stir up the guards.
1989		C. Hiaasen Skin Tight 82: She had yet to make the first wisecrack about his face.
1999		Observer Mag. 22 Aug. 12: Does he still get wisecracks at tollbooths?
2000		Guardian Guide 5–11 Feb. 21: Many of the wisecracks lost on the video version’s murky soundtrack are revealed.
2015		S. King Finders Keepers (2016) 85: The writer had called Rothstein ‘King of the wisecrack’.