"what's what" meaning in English

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "what's what (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1823, Lord Byron, Don Juan, Canto the Tenth",
          "text": "Besides, he had some qualities which fix\nMiddle-aged ladies even more than young:\nThe former know what's what; while new-fledged chicks\nKnow little more of Love than what is sung\nIn rhymes . . ."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1918, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 18, in Piccadilly Jim",
          "text": "\"Well, I know what's what, too. I know what you are for one thing.\" He chuckled. \"I've got your number all right.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1921, Samuel Hopkins Adams, chapter 17, in Success",
          "text": "Anyway, he's a wise old bird and may hand you a pointer or two about what's what in New York.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "c. 1925-29, Mahadev Desai (translator), M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Part I, chapter xvii",
          "text": "This was a hardship in as much as inquiry showed that even in vegetarian restaurants many courses used to contain eggs. This meant that unless I knew what was what, I had to go through the awkward process of ascertaining whether a particular course contained eggs or no, for many puddings and cakes were not free from them."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011 August 15, Sonia Van Gilder Cooke, “Sangat TV”, in Time",
          "text": "Sometimes it takes a scruffy underdog to show the professionals what's what. During the London riots, it was tiny Birmingham broadcaster Sangat TV that trumped the BBC and CNN with its riveting footage and quirky commentary.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Precisely what the situation really is or what the facts truly are; the true state of things."
      ],
      "id": "en-what's_what-en-noun-unvv9r4g",
      "links": [
        [
          "Precisely",
          "precisely"
        ],
        [
          "situation",
          "situation"
        ],
        [
          "fact",
          "fact"
        ],
        [
          "true",
          "true"
        ],
        [
          "state",
          "state"
        ],
        [
          "thing",
          "thing"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Precisely what the situation really is or what the facts truly are; the true state of things."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "set straight"
        },
        {
          "word": "who's who"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "what is what"
        },
        {
          "english": "for some past situation",
          "word": "what was what"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-what's what.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/db/En-au-what%27s_what.ogg/En-au-what%27s_what.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/En-au-what%27s_what.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "what's what"
}

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "what's what (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "set straight"
    },
    {
      "word": "who's who"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1823, Lord Byron, Don Juan, Canto the Tenth",
          "text": "Besides, he had some qualities which fix\nMiddle-aged ladies even more than young:\nThe former know what's what; while new-fledged chicks\nKnow little more of Love than what is sung\nIn rhymes . . ."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1918, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 18, in Piccadilly Jim",
          "text": "\"Well, I know what's what, too. I know what you are for one thing.\" He chuckled. \"I've got your number all right.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1921, Samuel Hopkins Adams, chapter 17, in Success",
          "text": "Anyway, he's a wise old bird and may hand you a pointer or two about what's what in New York.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "c. 1925-29, Mahadev Desai (translator), M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Part I, chapter xvii",
          "text": "This was a hardship in as much as inquiry showed that even in vegetarian restaurants many courses used to contain eggs. This meant that unless I knew what was what, I had to go through the awkward process of ascertaining whether a particular course contained eggs or no, for many puddings and cakes were not free from them."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011 August 15, Sonia Van Gilder Cooke, “Sangat TV”, in Time",
          "text": "Sometimes it takes a scruffy underdog to show the professionals what's what. During the London riots, it was tiny Birmingham broadcaster Sangat TV that trumped the BBC and CNN with its riveting footage and quirky commentary.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Precisely what the situation really is or what the facts truly are; the true state of things."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Precisely",
          "precisely"
        ],
        [
          "situation",
          "situation"
        ],
        [
          "fact",
          "fact"
        ],
        [
          "true",
          "true"
        ],
        [
          "state",
          "state"
        ],
        [
          "thing",
          "thing"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Precisely what the situation really is or what the facts truly are; the true state of things."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-what's what.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/db/En-au-what%27s_what.ogg/En-au-what%27s_what.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/En-au-what%27s_what.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "what is what"
    },
    {
      "english": "for some past situation",
      "word": "what was what"
    }
  ],
  "word": "what's what"
}