/no saˈβeɾ ni ˈpapa/ lit. ‘to not know even a potato’
Spanish idiom, colloquial. To have no idea at all.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Spanish speaker.
How do people use No saber ni papa
?
Colloquial and friendly, common in Spain and Latin America. It goes with verbs of knowing or understanding: “no sé ni papa de física”, “no entendí ni papa”. On its own, “ni papa” works as a short answer meaning “not a clue”.
Also said no entender ni papa, ni papa
No saber ni papa
in real sentences
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No sé ni papa.
I know nothing.
Tatoeba, sentence by ManuelML, translation by Amastan, CC BY 2.0 FR
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“¿Usted entiende la asignatura?” “Ni papa. Todo me suena a chino.”
“Do you understand the subject?” “Not a thing. It’s all Greek to me.”
Tatoeba, sentence by wallebot, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does No saber ni papa
come from?
Nobody is sure what the “papa” is. In Latin America and the Canaries it means potato, a cheap thing worth nothing, which is how most people hear it; other explanations point to “papa” as baby food. English Wiktionary only records it as colloquial for “nothing at all”, without a date.
Mistakes learners make with No saber ni papa
Writing “papá” with an accent. That’s “dad”; the phrase uses “papa” with no accent, stress on the first syllable.
Other Spanish idioms like No saber ni papa
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