a thing or two
75
3.7
- idiom
- Informal
- Joan Collins knows a thing or two about life.
- know a thing or two
- learn a thing or two
- teach you a thing or two
Loading YouTube…
Watch on YouTubeYeah, I think it's a little more like, well, I sure do know a thing or two about this world.
- Yeah, I think it's a little more like, well, I sure do know a thing or two about this world.
- Like, I could just step into her shoes in some way and maybe learn a thing or two and to look at the world through her eyes.
- She's gonna break it down for you because, you know, she knows a thing or two.
- So for this President's Day, I thought to bring my friend Jeremy on to teach us all a thing or two about our past presidents and some of their strange habits.
- And maybe they've been through the heartaches that I've been through or the fearfulness that I've been through, and maybe Tom could teach me a thing or two also.
- She's going to break it down for you because you know she knows a thing or two and now she's going to break down.
- yeah, you've been around the block a few times, you know, a thing or two. Listen to yourself first.
- And so I would say to myself, yeah, you've been around the block a few times, you know, a thing or two.
- OK, I don't know if you know a thing or two about a a certain design lab.
- I thought in your travels you maybe have learned a thing or two about something outside of fucking watches cute little race cars and fucking, I don't know.
Examples
-
Who knows, you might even learn a thing or two along the way.
Blog text (33) -
Conspiracy theories aside, Welch does know a thing or two about running a successful business.
Blog text (7) -
Yeah, I think it's a little more like, well, I sure do know a thing or two about this world.
-
We could all learn a thing or two from her.
-
Oh, I know a thing or two about that.
-
You could teach these young men a thing or two.
-
We'll show him a thing or two.
-
We may not know everything about them, but we have learned a thing or two.
Fiction book (1996) -
She knew a thing or two about hot irons and when to strike them.
-
She knows a thing or two about cooking, so her dishes are always delicious.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Ability to do something well because of practice or training
480
4.1
Practical skill and experience for doing technical tasks
1
6.4
High skill or knowledge in a specific area
Antonyms
How Knowledgeable
∞
3.2
27
4.2
1
7.1
- Informal
75
3.7
- Informal
1
9.7
414
3.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
Literally the phrase composes as 'one or two things', so a B1 learner who knows 'thing' and 'two' can infer a meaning like 'some things' about a topic. However, its conventionalized use to imply practical knowledge, skill, or a degree of expertise (often with a boastful or evaluative nuance) is a pragmatic/idiomatic extension not fully predictable from the parts, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
A thing or two comes from the image of someone showing a small number of useful items: they hold up a thing and then two tools from a box to show what they can do. So, if you know a thing or two about something, you have 'some useful knowledge' you could show or teach.