A: What do you suggest I buy my dad for his birthday? B: How about an iPad? He would be able to play chess on it and chat with you via WeChat. A: Perhaps no. Last time I bought him a computer, he said: “Return it please. I don’t know beans about computers. I’ve never even used one.” B: Then you should spend some time teaching him to use the gadgets. Note: The idiom means to “know nothing about something.” We also say to “spill the beans,” which means to “reveal information.” One possible origin of the “beans” is a game that was played at rural fairs in the U.S. In this game, contestants would guess the number of beans in a jar, where the number of beans was the key information. |