To learn the ropes is to master the basics of a new job or activity. Still learning the ropes, learn the ropes first, show him the ropes.
It is nautical, from the sheer number of ropes on a sailing ship, each with its own name and job. Somebody experienced shows a newcomer round while they learn the ropes.
1phraselearn the ropesTo master the basics of a new job or activity.
“New staff spend their first week with a mentor to learn the ropes.”
learn the ropes is a learning.
Of nautical origin, from the many named ropes a sailor on a square-rigged ship had to know.
Of nautical origin: in the past, the phrase “he knows the ropes” written on a seaman’s discharge meant that he was inexperienced and familiar only with a ship’s principal ropes.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Idioms