Word.ws English Dictionary

know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground

know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground is the alternative form of know one's ass from a hole in the ground.

Meaning of know one's ass from a hole in the ground

Verb

know one's ass from a hole in the ground (third-person singular simple present knows one's ass from a hole in the ground, present participle knowing one's ass from a hole in the ground, simple past knew one's ass from a hole in the ground, past participle known one's ass from a hole in the ground)

  1. (idiomatic, vulgar) To have an adequate level of knowledge or skill; to understand what one is doing or talking about.
    • "Why are you so sure and they aren't?" the landsman said. . . .
      "Because Mr. Ricimer knows his ass from a hole in the ground, sir."2004, David Drake, The Reaches, →ISBN

Forms of know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground

third-person singular presentknows the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground
present participleknowing the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground
pastknew the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground
past participleknown the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground

Questions about know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground

What is know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground the alternative form of?
Know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground is the alternative form of know one's ass from a hole in the ground.

Words near know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground in the dictionary

  1. know someone from Eve
  2. know someone from the man in the moon
  3. know someone from the man on the moon
  4. know someone in the biblical sense
  5. know someone when
  6. know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground
  7. know the difference between one's ass and one's elbow
  8. know the drill
  9. know the ropes
  10. know the score
  11. know the shit

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground (page history and authors); know one's ass from a hole in the ground (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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Cite this entry: “know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/know_the_difference_between_one%27s_ass_and_a_hole_in_the_ground. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.