know on which side one's bread is buttered
know on which side one's bread is buttered is the alternative form of know which side one's bread is buttered on.
Meaning of know which side one's bread is buttered on
Verb
know which side one's bread is buttered on (third-person singular simple present knows which side one's bread is buttered on, present participle knowing which side one's bread is buttered on, simple past knew which side one's bread was buttered on or knew which side one's bread is buttered on, past participle known which side one's bread was buttered on or known which side one's bread is buttered on)
- To be aware of where one's interests lie in a situation.
- They are all stupid when they are not crafty, and very few of them are crafty. The only wise Republicans are the millionnaires and their conscious henchmen. They know which side their bread is buttered on, and they know why.1908 September – 1909 September, Jack London, chapter XXIX, in Martin Eden, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, published September 1909, →OCLC, page 258
Forms of know on which side one's bread is buttered
| third-person singular present | knows on which side one's bread is buttered |
|---|---|
| present participle | knowing on which side one's bread is buttered |
| past | knew on which side one's bread was buttered |
| past | knew on which side one's bread is buttered |
| past participle | known on which side one's bread was buttered |
| past participle | known on which side one's bread is buttered |
Questions about know on which side one's bread is buttered
- What is know on which side one's bread is buttered the alternative form of?
- Know on which side one's bread is buttered is the alternative form of know which side one's bread is buttered on.
Words near know on which side one's bread is buttered in the dictionary
- know like the back of one's hand
- know like the palm of one's hand
- know no bounds
- know of
- know on what side one's bread is buttered
- know on which side one's bread is buttered
- know one's arse from one's elbow
- know one's ass from a hole in the ground
- know one's ass from one's elbow
- know one's head from a hole in the ground
- know one's head from one's ass
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: know on which side one's bread is buttered (page history and authors); know which side one's bread is buttered on (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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