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What does "knock through" mean in this context? I searched it in the Cambridge dictionary, and it says it refers to making a whole in a wall between two rooms or demolishing that wall entirely. I can't imagine a sane person demoloishing the floor of his house for any reason so it must mean something else, mustn't it

According to popular rumour, it all started with some disappearing chickens. In 1963, a man was knocking through the basement of his home when his poultry kept going missing. He soon found they were disappearing into a hole he'd accidentally opened up, and after clearing the way, he followed them in.

BBC Future

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    Presumably the basement wasn't completely underground - but whether or not, it would have had walls that could be knocked down (or "through" if there was a chance of getting somewhere other than meeting solid earth). Perhaps there were multiple "sub-rooms" within the basement, and the man was just trying to knock two small rooms into one big one by demolishing walls.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Aug 5, 2023 at 17:51
  • And if he was "knocking through" the floor, and then his poultry kept falling into the wholes he made, how could it be "accidental"? And how could it ever be a mystery if he was making wholes in the floor on which his hens were walking around? I just can't imagine what on earth happened there
    – Sergey Zolotarev
    Commented Aug 5, 2023 at 17:52
  • The source goes on to explain all about subterranean corridors and secret passages. What's so hard to understand about that? The guy was probably knocking through walls rather than floors, but it doesn't really matter. The tunnels could be anywhere.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Aug 5, 2023 at 17:55
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    @FumbleFingers This sounds "terribly British" to us over here, and even nonsensical if we've not heard the phrase before.
    – BadZen
    Commented Aug 5, 2023 at 18:02
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    A guy was demolishing some walls in his basement, and he accidentally / unknowingly opened up a route through to some secret passageways that his chickens started escaping through. Nothing much to "miss" there.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Aug 5, 2023 at 18:03

1 Answer 1

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"Knocking through" is an idiom of British English that in context means "to remove a wall."

During the demolition work, the chickens gained access to the inside of the wall.

Americans do not say this, but would need to say "knocking through a basement wall", "demolishing a wall" or "removing a wall" to be immediately understood.

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    Perhaps Brits "knock a wall through" more often than Americans because we've had small old "2 up, 2 down") terraced houses for longer. That's a typical context where we might "knock through" from one of the downstairs rooms into the other, to make one larger room. Where Americans have so much "room" outdoors, they just build a new house with a bigger downstairs room.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Aug 5, 2023 at 18:08
  • Maybe something like this! My other guess was it was from rugby "knocking though" - we don't play rugby over here at all. We do have ""townhouses" here which are like your "2 up, 2 down". (Do you all say "townhouse" at all?)
    – BadZen
    Commented Aug 5, 2023 at 18:09
  • But the context makes it pretty obvious what the guy was doing anyway, even if you've never heard of "knocking through" in the context of home alterations / DIY
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Aug 5, 2023 at 18:11
  • @FumbleFingers - 'knocking through' is practically the British national pastime (I exaggerate slightly) and provides much work for builders, either to carry out the work professionally, or put right the damage done by the amateurs with big hammers. Also re-erecting walls for subsequent purchasers who don't like 'open plan' vandalism.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Aug 6, 2023 at 9:09
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    I lived in a three-storey building 30 years ago, where me and my builder father knocked down the downstairs back wall prior to building an attached "through-conservatory". My older brother helped as we took out all the brickwork, and put 3-4 acrow props in temporarily to hold things together. Before heaving an RSJ girder into place, we had a cigarette break. So my father and me are standing in the garden, and my brother (standing in the newly-opened space) says "Dad, are you sure this is safe?". Pa says "I'm sure it is, but I wouldn't stand under it!". You shoulda seen brother's face!
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Aug 6, 2023 at 10:57

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