Meaning of know on what side one's bread is buttered | Babel Free

Definitions

Forma verbal. Verb. [C2]

Examples

““[…] She’s a born nurse, the doctor said, young as she was, and her feet never got tired, nor her aching back, nor her sleepless eyes, and she never said one cross, or one impatient, or one disrespectful word to me.” / ”Of course not,” snapped Maria, “she knew on what side her bread was buttered.””

“Success has not inflated Gibbs’ head, but his friends are trying to do so. They have been telling the dusky boxer that there are better managers than Lavigne, but Gibbs, knowing on what side his bread is buttered, refuses to listen to their “knocks.””

“Lord Viccars managed to identify himself to her before this disaster could transpire and told her not to waken her mistress but to return to her own bed. The woman didn’t argue. She knew on what side her bread was buttered and out of whose pocket her wages were paid.”

CEFR level