Know Someone from Adam, to not

Meaning of Origin of ‘Not Know Someone From Adam’

To not know someone from Adam means to not know someone at all, having never met them, or to be completely unable to recognize them. 

Used since at least the late 18th century, this idiom derives from the biblical story of Adam, the first man created by God… While Charles Dickens famously used the expression in The Old Curiosity Shop (1840), the earliest recorded use actually appears in London court records from 1784, where a witness testified: “Some man stopped me, I do not know him from Adam.”

Charles Dickens (The Old Curiosity Shop, 1840)

“He had scarcely bestowed upon him his blessing, and followed it with a general remark touching the present state and prospects of the weather, when, lifting up his eyes, he beheld the single gentleman of Bevis Marks in earnest conversation with Christopher Nubbles.
‘Halloo!’ said Dick, ‘who is that?’
‘He called to see my Governor this morning,’ replied Mr. Chuckster; ‘beyond that, I don’t know him from Adam.’” 

We may not be able to know out ancestors on sight, but we can know them through their DNA. In evolutionary biology and population genetics, the concept of a singular paternal ancestor is analyzed through measurable genetic lineages rather than theological narrative.

— Y-Chromosomal Adam Metrics: In genetic genealogy, scientists use the term “Y-chromosomal Adam” to define the most recent common patrilineal ancestor from whom all living humans are descended. Traced through the non-recombining region of the Y-chromosome (NRY), molecular clock data estimates this biological ancestor lived approximately 200,000 to 300,000 years ago.
— Genetic Drift and Phenotype Variance: The physical impossibility of “recognizing” an ancient ancestor highlights how human phenotypes change over millennia. Random genetic drift, geographic isolation, and natural selection modify physical facial structures and ancestral markers across populations, ensuring that original lineages diverge completely over hundreds of generations.
— The Lineage Tracking Paradox: While the idiom uses the concept of Adam to symbolize a total lack of relationship or recognition, modern DNA sequencing and forensic anthropology prove the exact inverse is true. From a genomic sequencing standpoint, every living male carries a direct, unbroken molecular signature from this chromosomal archetype, meaning that while we wouldn’t recognize his physical features, our cellular data remains indelibly linked to him, a stark contrast between linguistic folklore and biochemical reality.

Sentence Examples

“I don’t know him from Adam, yet he came to my party uninvited.”

“I don’t know you from Adam and you expect me to lend you money?”

“Why don’t you blow?” “Sure.” “You’ll beat it?” “Sure. Anything you say. Any time a guy comes along, I don’t know him from Adam, but anything he says do, I do it, of course. “Huh. One of them smart dames.” — Moontide (1942)

More “Know” Idioms