Iets onder de knie hebben

Meaning: To have mastered a skill.

Language: Dutch

Literally: To have something under the knee

Category: Body & Senses

Origin: Likely from wrestling, where pinning an opponent under your knee meant you had fully got the better of them.

More idioms — Body & Senses

• اللي على راسه بطحة بيحسس عليها — The guilty person gives himself away.
• Avoir le bras long — To have influence and useful connections.
• Avoir le cœur sur la main — To be very generous and giving.
• To cost an arm and a leg — To be extremely expensive.
• Tener más cara que espalda — To be utterly shameless and brazen.
• Non avere peli sulla lingua — To speak bluntly and hold nothing back.

More Dutch idioms

• Met de neus in de boter vallen — To arrive at exactly the right, lucky moment.
• Het regent pijpenstelen — It is raining very heavily.
• Iets met de Franse slag doen — To do it carelessly and half-heartedly.
• De kat uit de boom kijken — To wait cautiously before committing.
• Iets voor zoete koek aannemen — To swallow a story uncritically.
• Met de gebakken peren zitten — To be stuck with the unpleasant aftermath.

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