can't make heads or tails (out) of (someone or something)

Cannot understand someone or something at all; cannot make any sense of someone or something. I've been working with the new software for hours, but I still can't make heads or tails out of it. I can't make heads or tails of that new guy in accounting. Sometimes, he's really friendly, and then other times he acts like he's never met me before.

can't make heads or tails (out) of someone or something

Fig. [to be] unable to understand someone or something. (Also with cannot.) John is so strange. I can't make heads or tails of him. Do this report again. I can't make heads or tails out of it.

can't make head or tail of

Also can't make heads or tails of. Fail to understand, be quite confused about, as in I can't make head or tail of these directions. A version of this term dates back to Roman times, when Cicero wrote Ne caput nec pedes ("neither head nor feet") to describe confusion. In the current idiom the precise allusion is unclear: head and tail may mean top and bottom, beginning and end, or the two sides of a coin. [Second half of 1600s]

cannot make head or tail of something

cannot make head nor tail of something

mainly BRITISH

If you cannot make head or tail of something or cannot make head nor tail of it, you cannot understand it at all. I couldn't make head or tail of the instructions. They couldn't make head nor tail of the new computer system.

See also: cannot, head, make, of, something, tail

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

See also:

cannot make head or tail of something
can't make head nor tail of (someone or something)
can't make head or tail of
can't make head or/nor tail of something
can't make heads or tails of
I can't even
can't even
cannot
cannot but
(Are) you kidding (me)?

词组	can't make heads or tails (out) of (someone or something)
释义	can't make heads or tails (out) of (someone or something) can't make heads or tails (out) of (someone or something) Cannot understand someone or something at all; cannot make any sense of someone or something. I've been working with the new software for hours, but I still can't make heads or tails out of it. I can't make heads or tails of that new guy in accounting. Sometimes, he's really friendly, and then other times he acts like he's never met me before. See also: head, make, of, tail Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. can't make heads or tails (out) of someone or something Fig. [to be] unable to understand someone or something. (Also with cannot.) John is so strange. I can't make heads or tails of him. Do this report again. I can't make heads or tails out of it. See also: head, make, of, tail McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. can't make head or tail of Also can't make heads or tails of. Fail to understand, be quite confused about, as in I can't make head or tail of these directions. A version of this term dates back to Roman times, when Cicero wrote Ne caput nec pedes ("neither head nor feet") to describe confusion. In the current idiom the precise allusion is unclear: head and tail may mean top and bottom, beginning and end, or the two sides of a coin. [Second half of 1600s] See also: head, make, of, tail The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. cannot make head or tail of something or cannot make head nor tail of something mainly BRITISH If you cannot make head or tail of something or cannot make head nor tail of it, you cannot understand it at all. I couldn't make head or tail of the instructions. They couldn't make head nor tail of the new computer system. See also: cannot, head, make, of, something, tail Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. See also: cannot make head or tail of something can't make head nor tail of (someone or something) can't make head or tail of can't make head or/nor tail of something can't make heads or tails of I can't even can't even cannot cannot but (Are) you kidding (me)?
随便看	in the throes of something/doing something in the toilet in the top flight in the train of (someone) in the trouser department in the trust of in the trust of (someone) in the tube in the twinkle of an eye in the twinkling of an eye in the unlikely event in the unlikely event of in the unlikely event of (something) in the unlikely event (that) (something) happens in the van in the van of (something) in the vicinity (of something) in the view of (someone) in the wake of in the wake of somebody/something in the wake of something in the wake of (something) in the wars in the way in the way of