know on what side one's bread is buttered
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.83 in modern English
53
Scrabble Score
33
Letters
3
Syllables
14
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "“[…] She’s a born nurse, the doctor said, young as she was, and her feet never got tired, nor her aching back, nor her sleepless eyes, and she never said one cross, or one impatient, or one disrespectful word to me.” / ”Of course not,” snapped Maria, “she knew on what side her bread was buttered.”"
- "Success has not inflated Gibbs’ head, but his friends are trying to do so. They have been telling the dusky boxer that there are better managers than Lavigne, but Gibbs, knowing on what side his bread is buttered, refuses to listen to their “knocks.”"
- "Lord Viccars managed to identify himself to her before this disaster could transpire and told her not to waken her mistress but to return to her own bed. The woman didn’t argue. She knew on what side her bread was buttered and out of whose pocket her wages were paid."
Inflected Forms
knows on what side one's bread is buttered (present, singular)
knowing on what side one's bread is buttered (participle, present)
knew on what side one's bread was buttered (past)
knew on what side one's bread is buttered (past)
known on what side one's bread was buttered (participle, past)
known on what side one's bread is buttered (participle, past)