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wet behind the ears

Inexperienced; not seasoned; new; just beginning.

Etymology:

  • c. 1850, Pennsylvania, calque from German feucht hinter den Ohren.
  • From the drying of amniotic fluid on a baby after birth, specifically a new-born farm animal, which last dries behind the ears. German variants also borrowed.
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He made a lot of mistakes, back when he was still wet behind the ears.

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Submitted on September 01, 2009

Additional definitions for 'wet behind the ears':

Wet Behind the EarsYoung, not experienced, immature
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märkä korvien takana

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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to wet behind the ears

water is wetwet boyWet Blanketstand behindwet one's beakset by the earssoaking wetstay behindup to one's earswet one's beakrode hard and put away wetstay behindwet one's pantswet the bed

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