to know from a bar of soap
- idiom
- Informal
:
no saber nada de
- He doesn't know from a bar of soap about fixing cars, so ask someone else.
Examples
-
They realized the new recruit knew from a bar of soap about how the system worked.
-
He clearly knows from a bar of soap when it comes to computer programming, so he won't be able to help you.
-
I honestly know from a bar of soap about quantum physics.
-
I know from a bar of soap about the new policy!
-
Do you really know from a bar of soap how this works?
-
She said she knows from a bar of soap about gardening, so it's best to get advice from someone else.
-
If you ask him about finance, he will just say that he knows from a bar of soap about it.
Synonyms
279
3.6
To have no idea about something
80
6.4
To not know anything about a subject or situation
7
8.6
I do not know
5
7.5
To not know anything at all about something
4
9.0
I do not know
1
9.9
Tells others you have no idea and is rude
1
9.7
Have almost no idea about something
To not understand anything in a talk or explanation
Antonyms
How Knowledgeable
∞
1.0
∞
1.5
- Informal
1
9.7
- Informal
Surface Forms
Morphology
know + from + a + bar + of + soap
The meaning 'to have no knowledge' cannot be derived from the literal meanings of 'know', 'from', 'a', 'bar', 'of', 'soap' because a bar of soap has no semantic relation to knowledge; the phrase is an informal idiom where the object is arbitrary. This idiomatic, dialectal expression is unpredictable and would not be apparent to a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words, so prior exposure is needed.
Etymology
The idiom know from a bar of soap may come from the image of someone who cannot even tell a plain bar of soap from other things, so they seem to know very little. That's why the phrase means 'to have no knowledge or understanding about something'.