Have your number

A police captain from 1929 sitting at his desk.
(Photo: 272447/Pixabay | Text: David/ArtisanEnglish.jp)

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Phrase: Have your number

Although we may not like to admit it, life is all about competition.

That’s why when someone has our number, we must be especially careful to bring our A-game.

No, I am not referring to your telephone number, your Japanese My Number or your weight.


When people say someone has your number, they mean that person understands you very well.


They know your true motives, desires and the way you operate.

In other words, they know what makes you tick.

This knowledge gives them a unique advantage over you.

Being a massive fan of ice hockey, I’ve often heard it used when a goal scorer consistently scores against a particular goaltender.

In such cases, we say the scorer has the goaltender’s number because they know what the ‘tender will do and how they will react.

They understand how the goalie operates.

Therefore, the scorer will do the opposite.

If the goaltender goes left, the scorer goes right and so on.

Having someone’s number can be an excellent advantage for you and a disadvantage for your competitor.

Let’s look at law enforcement for a second.

Criminals often repeat the same crimes in the same way; they have a pattern.

Once the police figure out what this pattern is, they have the criminal’s number.

Now, I won’t say having their number makes it certain the police will catch them, but it does make it easier.

If you are a married man or even have a long-term girlfriend, I’m sorry to tell you this, but she has your number.

She knows you better than you know yourself, and for this reason, you will never win a major argument.

Sure, you may win the small ones, only because she lets you win.


Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test

This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).

On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 73.

The higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100, the easier the passage is to read.



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