Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to know where it's been

to know where it's been

1 8.2
To understand if something is clean and where it has been
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : saber dónde ha estado
  • You don't know where it's been.

Examples

Synonyms

to understand the history behind
vsto know where it's been
3.9

To know the past events that lead to something

focuses specifically on past cleanliness and reason to avoid it

Surface Forms

know where it's been infinitive
knowing where it's been present participle
knows where it's been third person singular
knew where it's been past
known where it's been past participle

Morphology

know + where + it's + be

The phrase is compositional: 'know' plus the clause 'where it's been' (where it has been) directly expresses having knowledge of an object's prior locations or history. Any pragmatic inference (e.g. caution about cleanliness) follows from that literal meaning, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should be able to understand it.

Etymology

Know where it's been paints a simple picture: you do not know the places something has been, so it might be dirty or used by others. So, it means 'to know the past of something and be careful because it might be dirty'.