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What's the meaning of "knowing one's onions"?



 
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What's the meaning of "knowing one's onions"? #1 (permalink) Wed Nov 05, 2008 23:59 pm   What's the meaning of "knowing one's onions"?
 

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #384 "English Slang Idioms (115)", question 2

"Jake is a good employee. That guy sure knows his .......... There isn't anything about how this place is ran that he doesn't know about," Marcie told Melissa.

(a) onions
(b) ideas
(c) feelings
(d) shoes

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #384 "English Slang Idioms (115)", answer 2

"Jake is a good employee. That guy sure knows his onions. There isn't anything about how this place is ran that he doesn't know about," Marcie told Melissa.

Correct answer: (a) onions

Your answer was: correct
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What's the meaning of "knowing one's onions"?
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What's the meaning of "knowing one's onions"? #2 (permalink) Thu Nov 06, 2008 8:33 am   What's the meaning of "knowing one's onions"?
 

.
Be knowledgeable.
.
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What's the meaning of "knowing one's onions"? #3 (permalink) Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:36 am   What's the meaning of "knowing one's onions"?
 

Hi,

I believe there is a grammatical error in this text-"about how this place is ran ".
Shouldn't we say " this place is run' ?
If it is actually a mistake, there is another one in question no.3 " things are ran".
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What's the meaning of "knowing one's onions"? #4 (permalink) Sun Feb 08, 2009 20:52 pm   What's the meaning of "knowing one's onions"?
 

Hello Zishuli,

You are right. The past participle of the irregular verb "run" is "run". The use of "ran" as a past participle would be marked as wrong in any reputable grammar test.

In the passive voice, the verb "run" should use a form of the verb "be" and the past participle ("run"). For example:
- I know only too well how this place is run.
- Three different simulations were run.


You would also use the past participle ("run") to build the perfect tenses:
- We have already run three different simulations.

The word "ran" is used for the simple past tense, active voice:
- He ran the place with an iron hand.
- We ran three different simulations.

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What's the meaning of "knowing one's onions"? #5 (permalink) Mon Feb 09, 2009 0:01 am   What's the meaning of "knowing one's onions"?
 

Zishuli wrote:
Hi,

I believe there is a grammatical error in this text-"about how this place is ran ".
Shouldn't we say " this place is run' ?
If it is actually a mistake, there is another one in question no.3 " things are ran".

Hi Zishuli,

Thanks a lot for spotting this typo which we'll correct tomorrow.

Regards,
Torsten
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