know which side one's bread is buttered on

Meaning: (idiomatic)To beawareof where one'sinterestslie in asituation.1908September –1909September,Jack London, chapter XXIX, inMartin Eden, New York, N.Y.:The Macmillan Company, published September 1909,→OCLC,page258:They are all stupid when they are not crafty, and very few of them are crafty. The only wise Republicans are the millionnaires and their conscious henchmen. Theyknow which side their bread is buttered on, and they know why.1922February,James Joyce, “[Episode 16:Eumaeus]”, inUlysses, Paris:Shakespeare and Company,[…],→OCLC, part III [Nostos],page576:Heknows which side his bread is buttered onthrough in all probability he never realised what it is to be without regular meals.1955November, “Mississippi Loses a Minister”, in Clair M. Cook, editor,Economic Justice[…], volume XXIV, number 3, Columbus, Oh.: National Religion and Labor Foundation,→OCLC,page 5, column 2:Many of them must have agreed in their hearts, and applauded his courage secretly. But their foolishness was of the world; theyknew which side their bread is buttered on.

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