Conocer el percal

[poli]

Know the truth?

[chileno]

This is what RAE has for percal.

conocer alguien el ~. 1. loc. verb. coloq. Estar bien enterado de un asunto o conocer bien a alguien.

EDIT: En Chile decirmos "Te conozco, mosco"

[JPablo]

And Moliner gives this,
Conocer el percal (generalmente con referencia a aspectos negativos). Saber bien cómo es alguien o algo.

El poli (policía) ya se conoce el percal, y no se va a tragar una mentira...


percal m percale; conocer el percal (fam) to know the score (colloq), to know the
people (o situation etc) one is dealing with

[sosia]

Hi poli
If you look in the RAE
RAE

percal. (Del fr. percale, y este del persa pargāle, trapo).
1. m. Tela de algodón blanca o pintada más o menos fina, de escaso precio.
2. m. Taurom. capote de brega.

in the first you can see the percal is a cheap cloth.
So one who knows "the cheap cloth" (uno que conoce el percal) is someone able to discern wich cloth is valuable or cheap. It's a person who knows the market/affair/people so you can not fool him easily:
So RAE

conocer alguien el ~.
1. loc. verb. coloq. Estar bien enterado de un asunto o conocer bien a alguien.

I don't know if you have a sentence similar to....
-a person who can smell rotten fish
-a person who can see thetrue value of a jewel
and so on...
saludos

[poli]

Originally Posted by sosia

Hi poli
If you look in the RAE
RAE

in the first you can see the percal is a cheap cloth.
So one who knows "the cheap cloth" (uno que conoce el percal) is someone able to discern wich cloth is valuable or cheap. It's a person who knows the market/affair/people so you can not fool him easily:
So RAE


I don't know if you have a sentence similar to....
-a person who can smell rotten fish we say :smell a ratHamlet said:there is something rotten in the state of Denmark (he smelt a rat)
-a person who can see thetrue value of a jewel We use it in a negative way: he wouldn't know a diamond if he held it in his hand. He doesn't know sh.t from shinola.
and so on...
saludos

Knows the ropes, and as JPablo said knows the score. He knows his stuff.

Thanks everyone
-

[JPablo]

You're welcome, Poli...
Good data about rats and diamonds!

(Is not Hamlet the one who said "My kingdom for a rat..."? Oops! No, hold my horses... that was the crippled Richard III... and it was a not a rat, it was a horse..)