[Idiom] I have your number (Of course not!)

[Hucky]

Hiya,

Has anyone of you ever stumbled on the idiom to have somebody´s number meaning to look right through somebody or [FONT=&quot]I´ve got you sussed out / you´ve been rumbled?

If at all, it should rather be of American origin, I reckon.

Greetings

Hucky


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[5jj]

Well it's given as an idiom in the OALD.

 

[Hucky]

Dear fivejedjon,

I´ve just checked. I couldn´t believe my eyes. If it is included in the OALD, it must be quite common. I wouldn´t have thought so because every time I have used it (in a jocular way) with native speakers they told me they had never heard that idiom before. From this I concluded that it had to be either restricted to regional usage or obsolete. Since I can´t even remember where I picked it up, I couldn´t rule out that I might have confused it. I even tried to locate it on the internet - and failed. So, sometimes the solution can be nearer than expected. The next thing I´m going to do is to look it up in similar monolingual dictionaries.

Thanks for the hint!

Hucky

 

[5jj]

I should have added that I know the expression. I am not sure whether I actually use it, but I think I have done so.

 

[Hucky]

What would you say instead in the same meaning?

 

[5jj]

What would you say instead in the same meaning?

Hmmm.

I think that these days I would probably say, "I've got him/her sussed". Possibly to older friends (in both senses - elderly, and friends for a long time) I'd say, "I've got his/her number".

If the person concerned has been deliberately putting on an act, I might say,"I've seen through him/her", or "I've rumbled him/her".

 

[probus]

Certainly it is AmE, and where I live not uncommon. But in AmE it really can't be "I have your number". It's got to be "I've got your number."

 

[BobK]

:up: Same goes for Br Eng. It's rather old-fashioned; as 5jj said, 'to have/get/have got someone sussed' is more common today, but 'got' would be required.

b

 

[Hucky]

Dear probus,

I´ve just replied to you on my other thread. So, what you have written here seems to be extra evidence that the have got-form is quite common in the US and thus not restricted to the UK.
Coming back to the idiom itself, if I´ve got that right, you´d say that the average American would understand it.

Hucky

 

[Hucky]

Dear BobK,

To begin with, thanks a lot!

Do you mean to say that the idiom in question would no more be commonly understood or used in the UK, thus being obsolete or archaic?

Hucky

 

[BobK]

It would depend on the audience. Older people would understand it and recognize it, but the number of people who use it is diminishing (as more and more of us fall off our perch!) ;-).

b

 

[probus]

Coming back to the idiom itself, if I´ve got that right, you´d say that the average American would understand it.

Hucky

I think so, but in this forum I have learned that there are differences between American and Canadian usage, contrary to what I had always believed. So I'd best leave your question for our American friends to answer.

 

[Vidor]

not a teacher

AFAIK "I've got his number" is quite common and easily understood in the United States. Although now that I think about it it's probably most commonly used in the third person, he/she has someone's number.

 

[JMurray]

@Vidor: Although now that I think about it it's probably most commonly used in the third person, he/she has someone's number.

I think this goes for my part of the world too: "It looks like she's got your number" (got you figured out) sounds natural, although slightly dated, ".. got you sussed" is the dominant form.