he knows what's what
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
He is a shrewd fellow not to be imposed on. One of the senseless questions of logic was Quid est quid?
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “he knows what's what” mean?
He is a shrewd fellow not to be imposed on. One of the senseless questions of logic was Quid est quid?
Is “he knows what's what” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.