Old Englishmen knew how to insult

... zealous but unpopular, self-accredited expert on clocks, locks, bells, buildings, as well as many branches of law, Denison was one of those people who are almost impossible as colleagues, being perfectly convinced that they know more than anybody about everything--as unhappily they often do. --unnamed writer describing Edmund Beckett Denison, designer of Big Ben's mechanism

Nowadays we'd say, "that smart alec's one big ass." those old Englishmen sure had a way with words.