"know" = "distinguish" - common?

Question

Hello,Could you please say, is it common to use the verb "know"with the meaning of "distinguish" as in "to know one fromanother" = "to discern a difference between two things"?Thanks in advance.--Victor

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

More common is the idiomatic 'tell one from another'.

eg I can't tell Coke from Pepsi.

eg I can't tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi.

Clive

Avangi · Answer

with the meaning of "distinguish" as in "to know one from another"

"He doesn't know right from wrong," is a common expression.

Distinguish seems to have two senses. In one sense, you actively set about to discover the difference between A and B.

In the other sense, you make yourself clear in your language that A differs from B.

I agree with Clive that in the first sense, at least, "to tell" is more common than "to know."

With "know," you understand the difference.

With "tell," you determinethe difference. (It's more pro-active, as they say.)

Avangi · Answer

Another very common expression (at least in my generation in the US) is, though a bit vulgar,
"He doesn't know his *** from his elbow."

In my opinion there's an important difference between this and a less common alternate version,
"He can't tell his --- from his elbow."

In the first version, the implication is that he's ignorant.
In the second version, the implication is that he's inept.

I call this difference important, because I think it follows other uses where "to know" and "to tell" may be exchanged.

"know" = "distinguish" - common?

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