the more you know

phrase

Used to imply that a piece of information that otherwise seems trivial or uninteresting might represent valuable knowledge.

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Meanings

phrase
  1. humorousoftenUsed to imply that a piece of information that otherwise seems trivial or uninteresting might represent valuable knowledge.

    While you may not have heard of it, sea kelp has been eaten and used medicinally for hundreds of years in various forms. Some sea kelp by-products are even a common ingredient in ice cream, salad dressings and chocolate milk. The more you know, eh?

    2023 August 21, Jennifer Savin, “Everything an expert wants you to know about sea kelp”, in Cosmopolitan
    3 more examples

    The more you know: Give birthday boy Len Goodman a Mirrorball-trophy-inspired cake, and he'll dish out 9's and 10's on Dancing With the Stars! Yes, this week was quite a change after last week's head-scratching episode—and all is happy again in the ballroom.

    2016 April 25, Jessica Radloff, “Dancing With the Stars 2016 Famous Dances Week Recap: Doug Flutie and Karina Smirnoff Are Eliminated”, in Glamour

    Fun fact: Elizabeth became the longest-reigning British monarch in history in 2017 when she passed the record previously held by Queen Victoria, who ruled for 63 years, from 1837 to 1901. George III, the longest-reigning man on the list, comes in third overall with 59 years on the throne—the more you know, right?).

    2019 June 2, Kayleigh Roberts, “The Royal Family Celebrates Queen Elizabeth's Coronation Anniversary on Instagram”, in Marie Claire

    Zoë [Kravitz] posts a rare pic of the couple on Instagram alongside the caption, “#BLINKTWICE in theaters august 23rd 🌴.” A lil refresher that Blink Twice is the actor’s highly anticipated upcoming directorial debut, which was renamed after initially being called Pussy Island. The more you know!

    2024 August 20, Mehera Bonner, “Zoë Kravitz and Channing Tatum’s 3-Year Relationship Timeline: a Retrospective”, in Cosmopolitan, archived from the original on 07 Oct 2024

Origin

An ellipsis (specifically, an anapodoton) representing the first part of a comparative correlative construction. Popularized by The More You Know (1989–present), an NBCUniversal series of public service announcements that features educational messages. The phrase's association with the emoji 🌠 is inspired by the graphics that accompany the phrase in that series. Collocations such as the more you know, the better [X] long predate the PSA series, but the more you know as an anapodoton seems not to predate it.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Italian guarda te
  • guarda teTranslations
Spanish cuanto / mientras más sabés
  • cuanto / mientras más sabésTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

the more you know. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20more%20you%20know

MLA

“the more you know.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20more%20you%20know. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “the more you know,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20more%20you%20know.

Source: the more you know on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.