Idiom: Have (got) nothing on (someone/something)

 

"I've got nothing on you."
"They have nothing on me."

Meaning

  • To have no advantage over someone or something else.
  • If someone has nothing on you, they are not better than you at something.
  • To lack the evidence necessary to place a charge against someone; to have no proof of wrongdoing or criminality about someone.

Note: 

"Someone has or someone's got nothing on you" means that somebody is comparing you to someone else and you are smarter, harder-working, more polite, more beautiful, etc. The expression compares your qualities, knowledge or skills to someone else's qualities, knowledge or skills.

But there is also another meaning for the expression. It is used when the police investigates a situation and they think they know who did a bad thing but they have no evidence, no proof, no way to prove that the person is the one who is responsible for the problem. So in a sentence: The police are sure you did it, but the police have nothing on you (nothing to prove it was you who did the bad thing).


Example Sentences

  • Yeah, you're pretty good at basketball, but you have nothing on my older brother Steve.
  • Roger has nothing on me when it comes to playing computer games.
  • He's a good player, but he has nothing on his brother.
  • She is very talented but has nothing on her brother who is an even better singer.
  • Video game systems have gotten pretty impressive, but in my opinion they have nothing on the classic systems from the '90s.
  • The police can investigate all they want, but they know they have nothing on me.
  • The police had nothing on Bob, so they let him go.
  • You've got nothing on me! Let me go!
  • We can’t file a report to the police yet, we have nothing on him.
  • I think this car has nothing on my old one.
  • Sherlock Holmes has nothing on you. You're a real detective.
  • As far as beauty is concerned, Marilyn got nothing on Anne.
  • I got nothing on my wife when it comes to cooking.
  • Report me to the school principal if you want, you have nothing on me anyway.


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