What are the origins of the phrase "smart as a whip"? 
No pointers to speculative answers, please.

"SMART AS A WHIP---Bright; clever.---"That boy is smart as a
whip."---A whip "smarts" when it is used on someone or some animal. 
You can see the natural transfer, a play on words."

This is taken from http://www.geocities.com/PicketFence/7608/sayS.htm,
a site that specializes in the meanings and origins of sayings and
everyday expressions. It was all I could find on the phrase (and I
looked for quite a while), but I think it sums it up quite well. Hope
this answered your question satisfactorily. If not please use the
'clarify answer' option before rating this answer. Thanks, -shiva777

With all due respect to shiva777-ga, I assume that porkribs-ga was
looking for an answer more along these lines:

"Smart as a whip", thread on <alt.usage.english> (May 20-28, 1994)
Google Groups
http://groups.google.com/groups?threadm=1994May20.170341.14286%40cs.uno.edu

This may not provide a definitive answer, but it's a start.

Sorry, I forgot to emphasize message 2 in the thread.  At least this
cites a source; the other posts are speculative.