who knows

English

Pronunciation

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Phrase

who knows?

1. A rhetorical question asked to show that the person asking it neither knows the answer nor knows who might.

   It could be one or the other, or both. Who knows?

   Do you think I'll get married before I turn 30? - Who knows, you might never marry.

2. A rhetorical question asked to express the idea that anything is possible or that anything could happen.

   Who knows? Maybe someday he'll finish writing his book and make lots of money selling it.

   Since she hasn't studied at all I don't think she'll pass the test, but who knows? She might pull a Homer and actually pass; I doubt it though.

   Don't touch that - who knows where it's been!

Quotations

• For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:who knows.

Translations

rhetorical question: one doesn't know

• Arabic: مَن يَدْرِي؟‎ (man yadrī?), اَللّٰهُ أَعْلَم‎ (allāhu ʾaʿlam), إِبْصَر‎ (ʾibṣar)
• Basque: auskalo
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 誰知道？ (zh), 谁知道？ (zh) (shéi zhīdào)

• Finnish: kukapa tietää
• French: qui sait ? (fr)
• Galician: quen sabe?
• German: wer weiß?
• Greek: ποιος ξέρει; (poios xérei?)
• Icelandic: hver veit?
• Italian: chissà? (it)

• Japanese: さあ？ (sā?), …かもそれない (…ka mo shirenai)
• Macedonian: којзнае (kójznae), кој го знае (koj go znáe), кој ќе знае (koj ḱe znáe)
• Navajo: haashį́į́ néelą́ą́ʼ?
• Norwegian: hvem vet?
• Polish: kto wie? (pl)
• Portuguese: quem sabe?, vai saber?
• Russian: кто зна́ет? (kto znájet?), кто его́ зна́ет? (kto jevó znájet?), как знать? (kak znatʹ?), чёрт его́ зна́ет! (ru) (čórt jevó znájet!)
• Spanish: ¿quién sabe?, ¡quién sabe!
• Swedish: vem vet?
• Turkish: kim bilir

rhetorical question: anything is possible

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 誰知道？ (zh), 谁知道？ (zh) (shéi zhīdào)

• Finnish: kukapa tietää
• French: qui sait (fr) ?
• Galician: quen sabe?
• Greek: ποιος ξέρει; (poios xérei?)
• Japanese: さあ？ (sā?)

• Macedonian: којзнае (kójznae), кој го знае (koj go znáe), кој ќе знае (koj ḱe znáe)
• Norwegian: hvem vet?
• Polish: kto wie? (pl)
• Portuguese: quem sabe?, vai saber?
• Russian: кто зна́ет (kto znájet)?, кто его́ зна́ет (kto jevó znájet)?
• Spanish: ¿quién sabe?, ¡quién sabe!
• Turkish: kim bilir?

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: wie zal het zeggen?, wie weet het?
• Interlingua: Qui lo sape?
• Italian: chissà?

• Latin: qui sapit?
• Swedish: vem vet?
• Volapük: kin nolon?

See also

• God knows
• who cares
• go figure

Anagrams

• knowhows