a thing or two

English

Phrase

a thing or two

1. An unspecified amount

   What are you doing today?
   —I have a thing or two to take care of.

2. (meiosis) A considerable amount; a lot.

   He's a good mechanic, and surely knows a thing or two about car engines.

   I could tell you a thing or two about that new boyfriend of yours.

   • 2021 September 22, Stephen Roberts, “The writings on the wall...”, in RAIL, number 940, page 75:

     He [Winston Churchill] was born at Blenheim Palace, that Oxfordshire pile built for his ancestor John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, who also knew a thing or two about warfare.

   • 2022 November 16, Christian Wolmar, “Can Merriman use his rail knowledge to make a difference?”, in RAIL, number 970, page 44:

     The good news is that the new Rail Minister is Huw Merriman, former Chairman of the House of Commons Transport Select Committee, which means he knows a thing or two about the railways.

Synonyms

• (unspecified amount): this and that
• (a lot): a lot, loads, tons, a great deal

Translations

unspecified amount

• Dutch: het een en ander
• Finnish: sitä ja tätä, yhtä ja toista, yhtä jos toista
• German: das eine oder andere
• Hungarian: egy-két dolog
• Icelandic: eitt og annað
• Irish: rud nó dhó
• Polish: coś niecoś n
• Russian: ко́е-что (ru) (kóje-što)
• Spanish: un rato
• Swedish: ett och annat (sv)

a lot

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 很多 (zh) (hěnduō)

• Irish: cuid mhór
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} un rato largo

References

• “a thing or two”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.