any fule kno

English

Etymology

From as any fule kno (misspelled form of as any fool knows), a catchphrase of fictional schoolboy Nigel Molesworth, subject of a series of books by Geoffrey Willans.

Phrase

any fule kno

1. (humorous) Any fool knows; it is well known.
   • 1995, Jim Ainsworth, Consumers' Association, Good Food Guide 1996, page 324:

     The Manoir is expensive, any fule kno that. But there is little point, judging from reports, in worrying what else you might have done with the £25 charged for a first course of wild salmon and caviare.

   • 1999, Gwyn Headley, Wim Meulenkamp, Follies, grottoes & garden buildings, page 430:

     Mow Cop is in Cheshire as any fule kno, but in the great tradition of smaller copies of greater buildings (vide Corris, Blackpool, Lichfield, Kiparrissia) there is a model sham ruin inspired by [it] […]

   • 2003, Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, page 402:

     Aside from the observation that, as any fule kno, rockets launch satellites, but themselves fall to earth, one wonders why this was ever considered to be helpful.