Not know someone from adam
verb phrase
(also Adam’s off ox or from Adam’s house cat)Tobe entirely unacquainted with or uncognizant of: We’re bigger than 90 percent of the companies on the Big Board, but nobody knows us from Adam/ I didn’t know from Adam’s house cat who Nolan Ryan was (entry form 1843+, ox 1890+, cat 1908+)
Be unable to recognize someone, as in Although I have worked here for two months, I’ve never seen the department head; I wouldn’t know her from Adam. This term refers to the biblical story about the world’s first human being. As at least one writer has pointed out, differentiating someone from Adam makes little sense since he had no name and wore only a fig leaf. [ Mid-1800s ]
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