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Glite Dictionary
to know someone from a can of paint

to know someone from a can of paint

9.9
To not recognize someone at all because you have never met them
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : no conocer de nada a alguien
  • She wouldn't know him from a can of paint if they passed on the street.

Examples

  • I don't know him from a can of paint!

  • I don't know her from a can of paint, but she seems nice.

  • He claimed he didn't know me from a can of paint when questioned.

  • Do you really know her from a can of paint?

  • I don't know him from a can of paint, so I can't trust his opinion.

  • She definitely doesn't know me from a can of paint, despite what she says.

  • He insists he doesn't know her from a can of paint, which is true.

Synonyms

to know (someone) from Adam
vsto know someone from a can of paint
  • UK
1 9.4

To have no idea who a person is at all

is the same idea expressed with a different phrase
to know someone from Eve
vsto know someone from a can of paint
  • UK
1 9.9

Not to know a person at all

is the same idea expressed in another wording
to know from a bar of soap
vsto know someone from a can of paint
  • Informal
9.9

To not understand anything about a subject

is specifically about not knowing a person rather than general ignorance

Antonyms

to know
∞ 1.0

To be familiar with someone, something, or a place from before

acquainted
1 3.9

Knowing someone or something a little from experience

How Familiar

to know
∞ 1.0
to meet
∞ 1.0
to know someone from a can of paint
  • Informal
9.9

Surface Forms

know someone from a can of paint infinitive
knowing someone from a can of paint present participle
knows someone from a can of paint third person singular
knew someone from a can of paint past
known someone from a can of paint past participle

Morphology

know + someone + from + a + can + of + paint

The sense 'to not know someone at all' is not derivable from the literal parts — 'can of paint' is irrelevant to familiarity, so the phrase functions as an idiomatic hyperbole rather than a compositional description. This meaning is unpredictable for a B1 learner who merely knows the constituent words and is therefore not transparent cross-linguistically or by ordinary compositional rules.

Etymology

The saying know someone from a can of paint may come from a simple image: a stranger is as familiar to you as an ordinary can of paint, so you 'do not know them at all'.