Join In Twitter YouTube Weekly Newsletter Libraries A-Z Grammatical Terms A-Z Confused Words FAQs by Writers A-Z Awkward Plurals Punctuation Lessons Common Mistakes
(ordered by seriousness) ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists A-Z Idioms and Proverbs Tests and Games Top Tip Install a grammar checker
for your browser

Know the Ropes (Origin)

by Craig Shrives

What Is the Origin of the Saying "Know the Ropes"?

The term "know the ropes" means to understand the details.

Table of Contents

English Proverbs and Idioms Test
More Proverbs, Sayings, and Idioms

Examples of Use:

Victor knows the ropes. He's worked here for 15 years.
He's been installing bathrooms for years. I think he knows the ropes around a sink.
I think you'll enjoy this game once you know the ropes.

"Know the ropes" originates from the days of sailing ships when sailors were required to understand which ropes to operate and how to tie various knots. It came into common use as a metaphor for "to understand the details" as early as the 1840s (evidence).

Competing Theory

The term "know the ropes" originates from the theatre where stagehands were required to know which ropes to pull to raise curtains and move stage scenery.

Previous and Next Sayings

English Proverbs and Idioms Test

Ready for the Test?

More Proverbs, Sayings, and Idioms

Help Us Improve Grammar Monster

Do you disagree with something on this page?
Did you spot a typo?

Find Us Quicker!

When using a search engine (e.g., Google, Bing), you will find Grammar Monster quicker if you add #gm to your search term.

Next lesson >

Suitable for: Teachers, advanced students, and business writers.

Description: Published by London's Octopus Publishing, "Smashing Grammar" is the third, and most comprehensive, grammar reference book written by Craig Shrives (the founder of the Grammar-Monster.com). It is divided into three sections: