"know one's ass from a hole in the ground" meaning in English

See know one's ass from a hole in the ground in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: knows one's ass from a hole in the ground [present, singular, third-person], knowing one's ass from a hole in the ground [participle, present], knew one's ass from a hole in the ground [past], known one's ass from a hole in the ground [participle, past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|know<,,knew,known> one's ass from a hole in the ground}} know one's ass from a hole in the ground (third-person singular simple present knows one's ass from a hole in the ground, present participle knowing one's ass from a hole in the ground, simple past knew one's ass from a hole in the ground, past participle known one's ass from a hole in the ground)
  1. (idiomatic, vulgar) To have an adequate level of knowledge or skill; to understand what one is doing or talking about. Tags: idiomatic, vulgar Synonyms: find one's ass with both hands and a flashlight, know B from a battledore [archaic], know one's ass from one's elbow, know one's head from a hole in the ground, know one's head from one's ass, know shit from Shinola, know what one is about, know which end is up, know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground Related terms: know someone from a hole in the ground Translations (Translations): know weh 'im fa (Jamaican Creole), estar más perdido que un pulpo en un garaje (Spanish), estar más perdido que un calamar en un pajar (Spanish), confundir la velocidad con el tocino (Spanish)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for know one's ass from a hole in the ground meaning in English (3.8kB)

{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "know one's stuff"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "knows one's ass from a hole in the ground",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "knowing one's ass from a hole in the ground",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "knew one's ass from a hole in the ground",
      "tags": [
        "past"
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    },
    {
      "form": "known one's ass from a hole in the ground",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
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      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2004, David Drake, The Reaches",
          "text": "\"Why are you so sure and they aren't?\" the landsman said. . . .\n\"Because Mr. Ricimer knows his ass from a hole in the ground, sir.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005 June 12, Gary M. Pomerantz, “First Chapter: Wilt, 1962”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-07-26",
          "text": "Foxx gave a comic's pause. \"Just goes to show you, don't it? Some folks don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 December 5, David Kiley, Chrysler \"Whoops\" Ads Part of Important New Genre, Bloomberg, retrieved 2016-09-23",
          "text": "In the unofficial ad, the facilitator says about the man whose wife will be replaced, “This guy wouldn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To have an adequate level of knowledge or skill; to understand what one is doing or talking about."
      ],
      "id": "en-know_one's_ass_from_a_hole_in_the_ground-en-verb-3Aw~bmFq",
      "links": [
        [
          "adequate",
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        [
          "knowledge",
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        ],
        [
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          "skill"
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, vulgar) To have an adequate level of knowledge or skill; to understand what one is doing or talking about."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "know someone from a hole in the ground"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "find one's ass with both hands and a flashlight"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "archaic"
          ],
          "word": "know B from a battledore"
        },
        {
          "word": "know one's ass from one's elbow"
        },
        {
          "word": "know one's head from a hole in the ground"
        },
        {
          "word": "know one's head from one's ass"
        },
        {
          "word": "know shit from Shinola"
        },
        {
          "word": "know what one is about"
        },
        {
          "word": "know which end is up"
        },
        {
          "word": "know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "jam",
          "lang": "Jamaican Creole",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "know weh 'im fa"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "estar más perdido que un pulpo en un garaje"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "estar más perdido que un calamar en un pajar"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "confundir la velocidad con el tocino"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "know one's ass from a hole in the ground"
}
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  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "know one's stuff"
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  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "knows one's ass from a hole in the ground",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "knowing one's ass from a hole in the ground",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "knew one's ass from a hole in the ground",
      "tags": [
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    },
    {
      "form": "known one's ass from a hole in the ground",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "know<,,knew,known> one's ass from a hole in the ground"
      },
      "expansion": "know one's ass from a hole in the ground (third-person singular simple present knows one's ass from a hole in the ground, present participle knowing one's ass from a hole in the ground, simple past knew one's ass from a hole in the ground, past participle known one's ass from a hole in the ground)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "know someone from a hole in the ground"
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        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "English vulgarities",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned",
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2004, David Drake, The Reaches",
          "text": "\"Why are you so sure and they aren't?\" the landsman said. . . .\n\"Because Mr. Ricimer knows his ass from a hole in the ground, sir.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005 June 12, Gary M. Pomerantz, “First Chapter: Wilt, 1962”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-07-26",
          "text": "Foxx gave a comic's pause. \"Just goes to show you, don't it? Some folks don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 December 5, David Kiley, Chrysler \"Whoops\" Ads Part of Important New Genre, Bloomberg, retrieved 2016-09-23",
          "text": "In the unofficial ad, the facilitator says about the man whose wife will be replaced, “This guy wouldn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To have an adequate level of knowledge or skill; to understand what one is doing or talking about."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "adequate",
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        [
          "knowledge",
          "knowledge"
        ],
        [
          "skill",
          "skill"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, vulgar) To have an adequate level of knowledge or skill; to understand what one is doing or talking about."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "vulgar"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "find one's ass with both hands and a flashlight"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "archaic"
      ],
      "word": "know B from a battledore"
    },
    {
      "word": "know one's ass from one's elbow"
    },
    {
      "word": "know one's head from a hole in the ground"
    },
    {
      "word": "know one's head from one's ass"
    },
    {
      "word": "know shit from Shinola"
    },
    {
      "word": "know what one is about"
    },
    {
      "word": "know which end is up"
    },
    {
      "word": "know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "jam",
      "lang": "Jamaican Creole",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "know weh 'im fa"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "estar más perdido que un pulpo en un garaje"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "estar más perdido que un calamar en un pajar"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "confundir la velocidad con el tocino"
    }
  ],
  "word": "know one's ass from a hole in the ground"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). 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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