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How is this "know from [noun]" phrase used differently than "know [something] from [another]"?
Here's an example of the latter. (I imagine comedian Steven Wright mumbling this into the microphone with his monotone deadpan delivery. Please excuse that I can't tell the beginning of the story without telling it through to the end.)
I was eating lunch at the park this afternoon when I was approached by a complete stranger wearing nothing but fig leaves... I didn't know him from Adam... I didn't want to be rude, so I offered him part of my lunch. I said, "Here, you want an apple?... Go ahead, take a bite - you won't die."
The first time I remember hearning a "know from" expression was in a early 80s movie with Scott Glenn called Sword of the Ninja. The plot has something to do with a special samurai sword that the antagonist wants, and there's a part where a Japanese-American character tells Scott Glenn, "Hey, I don't know from swords, but these Japanese, they're queer for them." (May not be an exact quote. At the time, I thought that that was kind of a strange expression.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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