know which side of the bread is buttered

present singular third person knows which side of the bread is buttered · participle present knowing which side of the bread is buttered · past knew which side of the bread was buttered · past knew which side of the bread is buttered · participle past known which side of the bread was buttered · participle past known which side of the bread is buttered

1. alternativeAlternative form of know which side one's bread is buttered on.

   On the other hand, the decision to beef up the standard fare without raising prices is a signal that Intel knows which side of the bread is buttered.

   2003 October 9, Ken Fisher, “Pentium 4 Extremely Expensive Edition, cache boost for everyman”, in Ars Technica

   2 more examples

   It was a graceless and ungrateful act and, in view of Blowitz’s Orléanist sympathies, must have antagonized from the start that stalwart champion of the inoffensive Princes’ rights. But Boulanger, a political general on the make, knew which side of the bread was buttered, and to his skill in posing as a guardian of Republican virtues was soon added his power of exciting the love for a military hero which lies embedded within the French breast.

   1962, Frank Giles, “A reporter at work”, in A Prince of Journalists: The Life and Times of Henri Stefan Opper de Blowitz, London: Faber and Faber, →OCLC, page 124

   Catherine had hired Phillip before she’d married John. He was a partner in the prestigious firm of Benchley, Tarrance, and Paulson. Benchley knew which side of the bread was buttered. The old fart had catered to Catherine’s every whim.

   2001, Julie Garwood, chapter 7, in Mercy, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 73