you-know-who

See also: You-Know-Who

English

WOTD – 26 May 2010

Alternative forms

you know who, You Know Who, You-know-who, You-Know-Who

Etymology

From you +‎ know +‎ who.

Pronunciation

Audio (US): (file)
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Rhymes: -uː

Pronoun

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you-know-who

Person or entity whose name one does not want to mention but which is known to the person to whom one is speaking.
- 1885, “The Mikado”, W. S. Gilbert (lyrics), Arthur Sullivan (music):
  And 'St—'st—'st and What's-his-name, and also You-know-who / The task of filling up the blanks I'd rather leave to you.

Synonyms

what's-his-name

Related terms

Translations

known and unmentioned person

Arabic: تَعْرِفُ مَن (taʕrifu man) (said to m sg), تَعْرِفِينَ مَن (taʕrifīna man) (said to f sg), تَعْرِفَانِ مَن (taʕrifāni man) (said to c du), تَعْرِفُونَ مَن (taʕrifūna man) (said to m pl), تَعْرِفْنَ مَن (taʕrifna man) (said to f pl)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 那誰 / 那谁 (nàshéi), 那個人 / 那个人 (zh) (nàgè rén)
Dutch: jeweetwel
Estonian: tead küll kes
Finnish: tiedät-kyllä-kuka (said to sg, of one person), tiedätte-kyllä-ketkä (formal to sg or said to pl, of several persons)
French: tu sais qui, qui tu sais (fr) (said to c sg), vous savez qui, qui vous savez (fr) (formal to c sg or said to c pl)
Georgian: გვარს არ დავასახელებ (gvars ar davasaxeleb)
German: du-weißt-schon-wer
Hebrew: אתה־יודע־מי (ata-yodea-mi) (said to m sg), את־יודעת־מי (at-yoda'at-mi) (said to f sg), אתם־יודעים־מי (atem-yod'im-mi) (said to m pl), אתן־יודעות־מי (aten-yod'ot-mi) (said to f pl)
Icelandic: þú-veist-hver
Italian: lei-sa-chi (formal, to c sg), tu-sai-chi (said to c sg)
Japanese: (phrase) 例の (れいの, rei no), くだんの (kudan no)
Korean: 예의 (ko) (yeui), 건의 (geonui)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: filankes (ku) m or f, filan (ku) m or f, filan kes m or f
Polish: wiesz, kto, wiesz, o kim mówię
Portuguese: você-sabe-quem, quem-nós-sabemos
Romanian: știi tu cine
Russian: сам зна́ешь кто (sam znáješʹ kto) (said to c sg, familiarly), са́ми зна́ете кто (sámi znájete kto) (said to c sg, courteously, or to c pl), изве́стно кто (izvéstno kto)
Spanish: Fulano, Quien-usted-sabe, Mengano y Zutano, ya sabes quién, individuo de marras
Swedish: du-vet-vem (said to c sg, about one person), ni-vet-vem (said to c pl, about one person), du-vet-vilka (said to c sg, about multiple persons), ni-vet-vilka (said to c pl, about multiple persons)
Turkish: falan, falan kişi

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Chinese:
Mandarin: (mainland) ^{(please verify)} 神秘人 (Shén-Mì-Rén), (Taiwan) ^{(please verify)} 那個人 / 那个人 (zh) (Nà-Gè-Rén)
Dutch: ^{(please verify)} Jeweetwel
Slovak: ^{(please verify)} Veď-Vieš-Kto
Spanish: ^{(please verify)} Quien-tú-sabes
Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} Kẻ-mà-ai-cũng-biết-là-ai-đấy