Smart or very smart?

My boss said something today that intrigued me: "There is a distance between being smart and being very smart". Humm. Great - but what is that distance and how do you measure it? Or at least, how do you quantify a person's smarts? (Do you even want to?)

"Smartness" is about situations, not people. Think Forrest Gump.

Examples:
A very bright informatics student is "very smart" in class; in his behaviour towards his girlfriend he can be less than smart.
Someone who makes money for his own benefit is smart; if he can bring business for more people, he is very smart.
An implementation consultant is very smart in his area of expertise but can only deliver a smart answer in other ERPs, for example.

That girl's a different girl today
Said that girl's a different girl to her you kissed last night
You couldn't have done that on a Sunday

Last night what we talked about
It made so much sense
But now the haze has ascended
It don't make no sense anymore
(Arctic Monkeys, From the Ritz to the Rubble)