"it takes one to know one" meaning in English

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

Proverb

Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-it takes one to know one.wav
Head templates: {{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 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), alles, was ich denk' und tu', trau' ich auch dem andern zu (German), 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)
    Sense id: en-it_takes_one_to_know_one-en-proverb-gfxsKCu6 Categories (other): English proverbs Disambiguation of English proverbs: 46 54 Disambiguation of 'an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver': 57 43
  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 entries with incorrect language header, English proverbs, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Catalan translations, Terms with Danish translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Irish translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 33 67 Disambiguation of English proverbs: 46 54 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 20 80 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 32 68 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 11 89 Disambiguation of Terms with Catalan translations: 20 80 Disambiguation of Terms with Danish translations: 11 89 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 20 80 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 21 79 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 15 85 Disambiguation of Terms with Irish translations: 20 80 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 11 89 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 22 78 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 16 84 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 11 89 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 9 91
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

Alternative forms

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      "expansion": "it takes one to know one",
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      "_dis1": "52 48",
      "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",
      "word": "look who's talking"
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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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          "_dis1": "57 43",
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
          "word": "pensa el lladre que tothom roba"
        },
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          "_dis1": "57 43",
          "code": "da",
          "english": "A thief believes everybody steals",
          "lang": "Danish",
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          "word": "tyv tror, at hver mand stjæler"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "57 43",
          "code": "fi",
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          "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
          "word": "kyllä koira koiran tuntee"
        },
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          "_dis1": "57 43",
          "code": "fr",
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          "word": "c’est celui qui dit qui l’est"
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          "_dis1": "57 43",
          "code": "de",
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        },
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          "_dis1": "57 43",
          "code": "ga",
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          "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
          "word": "aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "57 43",
          "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": "57 43",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
          "word": "swój swojego zawsze pozna"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "57 43",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
          "tags": [
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          "word": "o sujo falando do mal lavado"
        },
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          "_dis1": "57 43",
          "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": "57 43",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
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          "word": "piensa el ladrón que todos son de su condición"
        }
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        {
          "text": "Bob: You're an idiot!"
        },
        {
          "text": "Tony: Takes one to know one!"
        },
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          "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": "quote"
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          "text": "Anyone who appreciates Shakespeare as this author unquestionably does is another Shakespeare — it takes one to know one!",
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        {
          "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": "quote"
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          "type": "quote"
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        "(colloquial, childish) A retort to a negative accusation, implying that the accuser shares the fault."
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  "synonyms": [
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      "_dis1": "52 48",
      "word": "takes one to know one"
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  "word": "it takes one to know one"
}
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      "word": "if the shoe fits, wear it"
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      "word": "I know you are but what am I"
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      "word": "look who's talking"
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    {
      "word": "takes one to know one"
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  "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": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "an insult which is true about both the sender and the receiver",
      "word": "alles, was ich denk' und tu', trau' ich auch dem andern zu"
    },
    {
      "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"
    },
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      "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"
}

Download raw JSONL data for it takes one to know one meaning in English (5.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (c15a5ce and 5c11237). 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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