know shit from Shinola

== English == === Etymology === A colloquialism which dates back to the early 1940s in the United States, sometimes ended with "that's why your shoes don't shine". Shinola was a popular brand of shoe polish. === Verb === know shit from Shinola (third-person singular simple present knows shit from Shinola, present participle knowing shit from Shinola, simple past knew shit from Shinola, past participle known shit from Shinola) (stative, US, vulgar, chiefly in the negative) To have the most basic level of intelligence or common sense. 30 October 1973, George Carlin, "Filthy Words", WBAI Radio, quoted in FCC Reports, Second Series, Volume 56, October 31, 1975 to January 16, 1976, page 101: "He don't know shit from Shinola. (laughter) you know that? Always wondered how the Shinola people felt about that (laughter) Hi, I'm the new man from Shinola. (laughter) Hi, how are ya? Nice to see ya? (laughter) How are ya? (laughter)" 2008, Wally Lamb, The Hour I First Believed, Ch.1, at p.27: "Nowadays they've got all those captains and majors and lieutenants strutting around like it's May Day in Moscow, and they don't know shit from Shinola about how to run a ladies' jail." ==== Usage notes ==== Almost always used in negative constructions to describe someone's ignorance or stupidity, such as: He doesn't know shit from Shinola. ==== Synonyms ==== know one's ass from a hole in the ground