know B from a battledore

English

Verb

know B from a battledore

  1. (archaic, often in the negative) To know anything at all; to have the most basic common sense or intelligence.
    • 1599, Thomas Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe:
      Euery man can ſay Bee to a Battledore, and write in prayſe of Vertue, and the ſeuen Liberall Sciences, threſh corne out of the full ſheaues, and fetch water out of the Thames; but out of drie ſtubble to make an after harueſt, and a plentifull croppe without ſowing, and wring iuice out of a flint, thats Pierce a Gods name, and the right tricke of a workman.
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