A new (to me) idiom

[AJBryant]

I used to have a big dictionary of Japanese idioms, but since my move, it seems to have wandered off, so I can't dig better.

I've run across the phrase 肌で知っている, and I'm at a loss to precisely work that one out. I get that it means something about really knowing something well -- or at least I thought it did.

Is it anything like "know it in their gut"? Essentially, the text is about manners, and how people in large crowds just "肌で知っている" -- I'm assuming it's "they know in their guts how to behave"....

Can someone help a brother out here?

よろしく頼む！

[jimbreen]

I've run across the phrase 肌で知っている, and I'm at a loss to precisely work that one out. I get that it means something about really knowing something well -- or at least I thought it did.

Is it anything like "know it in their gut"? Essentially, the text is about manners, and how people in large crowds just "肌で知っている" -- I'm assuming it's "they know in their guts how to behave"....

From GG5: (新和英大辞典第５版)

肌で知っている know 《it》 by direct experience; really know what 《it》 is like; 〈物事が主語〉 be part of oneself.

Eijiro:

■原爆の恐ろしさを肌で知る : gain firsthand knowledge of atomic holocaust
■肌で知る〔〜を〕 : take ~ in through the skin


Jim

[AJBryant]

Ah, brilliant.

Thanks, Jim. You're a lifesaver.

And by that, I mean Wintergreen. Not one of the icky plastic-y fruit flavored ones.

Thanks a million. That really clarifies it.