English · Idiom Historical

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Preserved but no longer current.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.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

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.

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