to know (someone) from Adam
1
9.4
- idiom
- UK
:
no conocer de nada
- Look, you don't know me from Adam.
- I don't know him from Adam
Examples
-
"You don't know me from Adam, but I'm a decent guy."
-
Listen, I don't know you from Adam, but I guess you're okay.
Fiction book (1995) -
Man, but she didn't know me from Adam
-
I don't know you from Adam.
-
You don't know this guy from Adam.
-
You don't know me from Adam.
-
I didn't know her from Adam.
-
You don't know me from Adam.
-
"I didn't know him from Adam," I said.
Fiction book (1995) -
I don't know him from Adam, so I can't trust his opinion.
Synonyms
1
9.9
Not to know a person at all
To not recognize someone at all because you have never met them
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
know + (someone) + from + Adam
The sense 'not know someone at all' is not transparently built from 'know' + 'from' + 'Adam' — the role of 'from Adam' is idiomatic and culture-specific (biblical reference) rather than compositional. A B1 learner who knows the words would not reliably infer the negative, total lack-of-acquaintance meaning without prior exposure, so the expression is opaque.
Etymology
The phrase know (someone) from Adam may come from the Bible story of Adam, the first man. If you cannot tell someone from Adam, you have no way to recognize them, so the saying means 'not know someone at all'.