it takes one to know one
- idiom
- Offensive
:
el que lo dice, lo es
- You think I'm rude? Well, it takes one to know one!
Examples
-
When she called him lazy, he replied, 'it takes one to know one!'
-
Whenever someone accuses her of gossiping, she quickly replies, "it takes one to know one."
-
He laughed off the criticism by saying, "it takes one to know one, buddy."
-
If you call me stubborn, just remember, it takes one to know one.
-
If you call me stubborn, just remember, it takes one to know one.
-
He laughed off the criticism by saying, "it takes one to know one, buddy."
-
Whenever someone accuses her of gossiping, she quickly replies, "it takes one to know one."
Synonyms
1
7.4
To say someone has a fault you also have
A comment that points out a fault you also have
Surface Forms
Morphology
it + take + one + to + know + one
The individual words are literal but the expression encodes a pragmatic inference — that only someone of a certain kind can recognize another of that kind — which is not a straightforward compositional meaning. A B1 learner who knows the words might be able to guess a related idea but would likely not predict the idiomatic retort/accusatory use without prior exposure, so it is partially but not fully transparent.
Etymology
It takes one to know one comes from the simple idea that you only notice a certain habit because you are one yourself, like a thief who can spot another thief by the same signs. So people use it as a quick reply to say someone 'has the same fault'.