Don't know _______ from Adam
I was almost finished my bike ride today. I made it back to my city and was on a small road when a van pulled up beside me. I wasn’t stopped, so it was a little dangerous. An old man shouted, “Have a good day!” I looked over just in case it was someone I knew. I didn’t know him from Adam. I sort of ignored him but also, I pointed forward and said, “be careful” as he was drifting into my lane and there were cars at the light ahead. He shouted the same phrase once again before being slowed down by the other cars. I took the right lane and made a right turn.
Old men in Korea are fearless when talking to foreigners. It is coincidental that I was talking about this subject with friends last night. The people that come up to us in the street are not our age. It is usually old men and students. When I first came to Korea, I enjoyed the pseudo-celebrity life. It was kind of fun. But after a little while, I just want to be ignored. If you have seen my “20 Questions for a Foreigner” series, you’ll know that a lot of foreigners living in Korea feel the same way.
I don’t mind saying hello or giving a little smile if someone approaches me kindly. But this old man (and many others) was kind of aggressive. I’ve also noticed that they have one thing they want to shout at you and have nothing else that they know in English. Some men get even bolder. I had one guy in Cheonan come up to me while I was eating at a convenience store and started feeling up my legs. I think he was complimenting me on my muscular cycling legs, but it was not an appropriate way to do that. Needless to say, I had a few words to say to him.
Meaning
I don’t know you from Adam means that you have no idea who the person is. It can be used to talk about someone you haven’t met or wouldn’t recognize. It also has a feeling of mistrust. As in, I don’t know them well enough to trust them.
Example: You want me to send you money but I don’t know you from Adam. How do I know you are not scamming me?
Origin
You don’t know me from Adam is a reference to the biblical character, Adam. According to the Christian bible, he was the first human created. God used a piece of his rib to create the first woman, Eve. The idea with this phrase is that Adam lived so long ago that we wouldn’t recognize him today.
Don’t know from Adam appears to have originated in America and is closely related to the phrase, “Don’t know someone from Adam’s off ox.” An off ox is an ox that is part of a team of oxen and is farthest away from the driver. It is the least well-known ox because the more experienced oxen were closest to the driver. This is a comical way to stress how unacquainted you are with someone. There are other similar phrases in various parts of America that emphasize the unfamiliarity:
- I don’t know him from Adam’s housecat.
- I don’t know him from Adam’s brother.
- I don’t know him from Adam’s foot.
- I don’t know him from Adam’s pet monkey.
It is not known when exactly this phrase came into use. An 1849 refence used the phrase, “poor as God’s off ox.” It may have been a precursor or an offshoot of Adam’s off ox. “Don’t know from Adam” dates to the mid-1800s. Charles Dickens used the phrase in The Old Curiosity Shop (1840).
Genetic Adam and Eve
If you don’t like the Christian reference, there is also a Y-chromosomal Adam and a mitochondrial Eve. Y-chromosomal Adam is the most recent common male ancestor for all humans. Mitochondrial Eve is the most recent common female ancestor for all humans. We all can trace our ancestry to these two individuals. They are named after the biblical characters. It is very unlikely that these two individuals lived at the same time. Rather, they are mathematical certainties based on how genetics work. Males get their Y-chromosome from their father. The rest of the chromosomes are a mix of your mother and father’s DNA. So, we can look at the differences between the DNA of contemporary humans to estimate when Y-chromosomal Adam lived. The current estimation is that he lived between 192,000 and 307,000 years ago. Similarly, we can use the DNA in Mitochondria to estimate when Mitochondrial Eve lived. Mitochondria are only passed down to us from our mothers. It is believed that Mitochondrial Eve lived between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago. Over time, these estimates will change as lineages die off and if new lineages are discovered.
You don't know me from Adam reminds me of The House That Built Me by Miranda Lambert:
See Also: Bless you, Day and Night
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Resources:
https://www.idioms.online/not-know-someone-from-adam
https://word-ancestry.livejournal.com/63373.html
https://called2jc.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/i-dont-know-you-from-adam/
https://grammarist.com/idiom/adams-off-ox/
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/700/700-h/700-h.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-chromosomal_Adam
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22429904-500-found-closest-link-to-eve-our-universal-ancestor/