a thing or two

a thing or two

English

Phrase

a thing or two

1. A considerable amount; a lot.

   He's a good mechanic, and surely knows a thing or two about car engines.

   • 2021 September 22, Stephen Roberts, “The writings on the wall...”, in RAIL, number 940, page 75:

     He [Winston Churchill] was born at Blenheim Palace, that Oxfordshire pile built for his ancestor John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, who also knew a thing or two about warfare.

   • 2022 November 16, Christian Wolmar, “Can Merriman use his rail knowledge to make a difference?”, in RAIL, number 970, page 44:

     The good news is that the new Rail Minister is Huw Merriman, former Chairman of the House of Commons Transport Select Committee, which means he knows a thing or two about the railways.

Synonyms

• a lot
• loads
• tons
• a great deal

Translations

considerable amount

Chinese: Mandarin: 很多 (zh) (hěnduō) Finnish: jotakin (fi) German: eine ganze Menge Russian: ко́е-что (ru) (kóje-što) Spanish: un rato, un rato largo

References

• “a thing or two”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.