"it takes one to know one" meaning in English

See it takes one to know one in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

Head templates: {{head|en|proverb|head=}} it takes one to know one, {{en-proverb}} it takes one to know one
  1. (idiomatic) expressing the same underlying character-judgment themes as pot calling the kettle black or set a thief to catch a thief. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-it_takes_one_to_know_one-en-proverb-gfxsKCu6 Categories (other): English proverbs Disambiguation of English proverbs: 46 54
  2. (colloquial, childish) A retort to a negative accusation, implying that the accuser shares the fault. Tags: childish, colloquial
    Sense id: en-it_takes_one_to_know_one-en-proverb-0gEVS51D Categories (other): English proverbs Disambiguation of English proverbs: 46 54
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: takes one to know one Related terms: if the shoe fits, wear it, I know you are but what am I, look who's talking Translations (an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver): pensa el lladre que tothom roba (Catalan), tyv tror, at hver mand stjæler (english: A thief believes everybody steals) (Danish), kyllä koira koiran tuntee (Finnish), c’est celui qui dit qui l’est (French), aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile (Irish), il bue che dice cornuto all'asino (Italian), swój swojego zawsze pozna (Polish), o sujo falando do mal lavado [masculine] (Portuguese), каждый судит по себе (každyj sudit po sebe) (Russian), piensa el ladrón que todos son de su condición (Spanish)
Disambiguation of 'an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver': 50 50

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for it takes one to know one meaning in English (4.4kB)

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      "expansion": "it takes one to know one",
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      "word": "if the shoe fits, wear it"
    },
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      "_dis1": "52 48",
      "word": "I know you are but what am I"
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      "_dis1": "52 48",
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        "expressing the same underlying character-judgment themes as pot calling the kettle black or set a thief to catch a thief."
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    {
      "categories": [
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          "_dis": "46 54",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Bob: You're an idiot!"
        },
        {
          "text": "Tony: Takes one to know one!"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1949, Nial Kent, The Divided Path, page 358",
          "text": "There's an unkind saying that it takes one to know one, and it's almost true.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1947, Poet Lore, page 280",
          "text": "Anyone who appreciates Shakespeare as this author unquestionably does is another Shakespeare — it takes one to know one!",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1946, Gore Vidal, Williwaw, page 45",
          "text": "“I’ve got a bad egg,” said Bervick. “I guess this was a pre-war egg.” […]\n“It takes one to know one,” said the Chief, referring back to the eggs.",
          "type": "quotation"
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        {
          "ref": "1980, Gerald Ford, “Problems Multiply”, in A Time to Heal, New York: Berkley Books, →OCLC, →OL, page 209",
          "text": "Brezhnev pretended a scowl. \"Kissinger is such a scoundrel,\" he said.\nBut Henry was ready for that. \"It takes one to know one,\" he replied.",
          "type": "quotation"
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      "glosses": [
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        "(colloquial, childish) A retort to a negative accusation, implying that the accuser shares the fault."
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "52 48",
      "word": "takes one to know one"
    }
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  "translations": [
    {
      "_dis1": "50 50",
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "pensa el lladre que tothom roba"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "50 50",
      "code": "da",
      "english": "A thief believes everybody steals",
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      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "tyv tror, at hver mand stjæler"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "50 50",
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "kyllä koira koiran tuntee"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "50 50",
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "c’est celui qui dit qui l’est"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "50 50",
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "50 50",
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "il bue che dice cornuto all'asino"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "50 50",
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "swój swojego zawsze pozna"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "50 50",
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "o sujo falando do mal lavado"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "50 50",
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "každyj sudit po sebe",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "каждый судит по себе"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "50 50",
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "piensa el ladrón que todos son de su condición"
    }
  ],
  "word": "it takes one to know one"
}
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    {
      "word": "if the shoe fits, wear it"
    },
    {
      "word": "I know you are but what am I"
    },
    {
      "word": "look who's talking"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
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        "expressing the same underlying character-judgment themes as pot calling the kettle black or set a thief to catch a thief."
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        "(idiomatic) expressing the same underlying character-judgment themes as pot calling the kettle black or set a thief to catch a thief."
      ],
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        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
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        {
          "text": "Bob: You're an idiot!"
        },
        {
          "text": "Tony: Takes one to know one!"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1949, Nial Kent, The Divided Path, page 358",
          "text": "There's an unkind saying that it takes one to know one, and it's almost true.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1947, Poet Lore, page 280",
          "text": "Anyone who appreciates Shakespeare as this author unquestionably does is another Shakespeare — it takes one to know one!",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1946, Gore Vidal, Williwaw, page 45",
          "text": "“I’ve got a bad egg,” said Bervick. “I guess this was a pre-war egg.” […]\n“It takes one to know one,” said the Chief, referring back to the eggs.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1980, Gerald Ford, “Problems Multiply”, in A Time to Heal, New York: Berkley Books, →OCLC, →OL, page 209",
          "text": "Brezhnev pretended a scowl. \"Kissinger is such a scoundrel,\" he said.\nBut Henry was ready for that. \"It takes one to know one,\" he replied.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A retort to a negative accusation, implying that the accuser shares the fault."
      ],
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          "retort",
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        "(colloquial, childish) A retort to a negative accusation, implying that the accuser shares the fault."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "childish",
        "colloquial"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "takes one to know one"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "pensa el lladre que tothom roba"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "english": "A thief believes everybody steals",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "tyv tror, at hver mand stjæler"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "kyllä koira koiran tuntee"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "c’est celui qui dit qui l’est"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "il bue che dice cornuto all'asino"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "swój swojego zawsze pozna"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "o sujo falando do mal lavado"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "každyj sudit po sebe",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "каждый судит по себе"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "piensa el ladrón que todos son de su condición"
    }
  ],
  "word": "it takes one to know one"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-17 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-01 using wiktextract (0b52755 and 5cb0836). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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