"know on what side one's bread is buttered" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "knows on what side one's bread is buttered",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "knowing on what side one's bread is buttered",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "knew on what side one's bread was buttered",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "knew on what side one's bread is buttered",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "known on what side one's bread was buttered",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "known on what side one's bread is buttered",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "know<,,knew,known> on what side one's bread is<is,is,was:is> buttered"
      },
      "expansion": "know on what side one's bread is buttered (third-person singular simple present knows on what side one's bread is buttered, present participle knowing on what side one's bread is buttered, simple past knew on what side one's bread was buttered or knew on what side one's bread is buttered, past participle known on what side one's bread was buttered or known on what side one's bread is buttered)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "know which side one's bread is buttered on"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              256,
              296
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1889, Mrs. Nathaniel Conklin (Jennie M[aria] Drinkwater), “Eleven O’clock”, in Fourfold, New York, N.Y.: Robert Carter & Brothers […], →OCLC, page 151:",
          "text": "“[…] She’s a born nurse, the doctor said, young as she was, and her feet never got tired, nor her aching back, nor her sleepless eyes, and she never said one cross, or one impatient, or one disrespectful word to me.” / ”Of course not,” snapped Maria, “she knew on what side her bread was buttered.”",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              170,
              212
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1902 August 2, “Lavigne’s Troubles with Young Gibbs”, in Oakland Tribune, volume LV, number 181, Oakland, Calif., →OCLC, page 2, column 4:",
          "text": "Success has not inflated Gibbs’ head, but his friends are trying to do so. They have been telling the dusky boxer that there are better managers than Lavigne, but Gibbs, knowing on what side his bread is buttered, refuses to listen to their “knocks.”",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              182,
              222
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1986 August, Maggie MacKeever, chapter 23, in Lady Sherry and the Highwayman, New York, N.Y.: Fawcett Crest, →ISBN, page 205:",
          "text": "Lord Viccars managed to identify himself to her before this disaster could transpire and told her not to waken her mistress but to return to her own bed. The woman didn’t argue. She knew on what side her bread was buttered and out of whose pocket her wages were paid.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of know which side one's bread is buttered on."
      ],
      "id": "en-know_on_what_side_one's_bread_is_buttered-en-verb-Z1w236-J",
      "links": [
        [
          "know which side one's bread is buttered on",
          "know which side one's bread is buttered on#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "know on what side one's bread is buttered"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "knows on what side one's bread is buttered",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "knowing on what side one's bread is buttered",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "knew on what side one's bread was buttered",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "knew on what side one's bread is buttered",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "known on what side one's bread was buttered",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "known on what side one's bread is buttered",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "know<,,knew,known> on what side one's bread is<is,is,was:is> buttered"
      },
      "expansion": "know on what side one's bread is buttered (third-person singular simple present knows on what side one's bread is buttered, present participle knowing on what side one's bread is buttered, simple past knew on what side one's bread was buttered or knew on what side one's bread is buttered, past participle known on what side one's bread was buttered or known on what side one's bread is buttered)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "know which side one's bread is buttered on"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              256,
              296
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1889, Mrs. Nathaniel Conklin (Jennie M[aria] Drinkwater), “Eleven O’clock”, in Fourfold, New York, N.Y.: Robert Carter & Brothers […], →OCLC, page 151:",
          "text": "“[…] She’s a born nurse, the doctor said, young as she was, and her feet never got tired, nor her aching back, nor her sleepless eyes, and she never said one cross, or one impatient, or one disrespectful word to me.” / ”Of course not,” snapped Maria, “she knew on what side her bread was buttered.”",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              170,
              212
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1902 August 2, “Lavigne’s Troubles with Young Gibbs”, in Oakland Tribune, volume LV, number 181, Oakland, Calif., →OCLC, page 2, column 4:",
          "text": "Success has not inflated Gibbs’ head, but his friends are trying to do so. They have been telling the dusky boxer that there are better managers than Lavigne, but Gibbs, knowing on what side his bread is buttered, refuses to listen to their “knocks.”",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              182,
              222
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1986 August, Maggie MacKeever, chapter 23, in Lady Sherry and the Highwayman, New York, N.Y.: Fawcett Crest, →ISBN, page 205:",
          "text": "Lord Viccars managed to identify himself to her before this disaster could transpire and told her not to waken her mistress but to return to her own bed. The woman didn’t argue. She knew on what side her bread was buttered and out of whose pocket her wages were paid.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of know which side one's bread is buttered on."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "know which side one's bread is buttered on",
          "know which side one's bread is buttered on#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "know on what side one's bread is buttered"
}