what's what

alternative what is what · alternative what was what

1. idiomaticuncountablePrecisely what the situation really is or what the facts truly are; the true state of things.

   Anyway, he's a wise old bird and may hand you a pointer or two about what's what in New York.

   1921, Samuel Hopkins Adams, chapter 17, in Success

   4 more examples

   Besides, he had some qualities which fix Middle-aged ladies even more than young: The former know what's what; while new-fledged chicks Know little more of Love than what is sung In rhymes . . .

   1823, Lord Byron, Don Juan, Canto the Tenth

   "Well, I know what's what, too. I know what you are for one thing." He chuckled. "I've got your number all right."

   1918, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 18, in Piccadilly Jim

   This was a hardship in as much as inquiry showed that even in vegetarian restaurants many courses used to contain eggs. This meant that unless I knew what was what, I had to go through the awkward process of ascertaining whether a particular course contained eggs or no, for many puddings and cakes were not free from them.

   c. 1925-29, Mahadev Desai (translator), M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Part I, chapter xvii

   Sometimes it takes a scruffy underdog to show the professionals what's what. During the London riots, it was tiny Birmingham broadcaster Sangat TV that trumped the BBC and CNN with its riveting footage and quirky commentary.

   2011 August 15, Sonia Van Gilder Cooke, “Sangat TV”, in Time