English
wet behind the ears
Adjective
  1. (idiomatic) Inexperienced; just beginning; immature (especially in judgment).
    • 1903, "The Boy Whose Parents Wanted Him to Be Useful ↗," Chicago Tribune, 2 Aug., p. B2 (retrieved 5 Oct 2010):
      [They would put] their hands behind their ears and pat the top of their heads to taunt me with the fact that I was still wet behind the ears and soft on top of the head.
    • 1950, Roger Appleton, "[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zoskAAAAIBAJ&sjid=T90FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2375,3455787&dq=wet-behind-the-ears&hl=en Police to End Teen-Age Gambling: Strike at Pool Hall Hangouts]," Ottawa Citizen (Canada), 13 Jan., p. 18 (retrieved 5 Oct 2010):
      Every week day, pool rooms are filled with scores of boys still "wet behind the ears" who have no business anywhere but in the classroom.
    • 1991, Dick Thompson, "[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,973402,00.html The Man with the Plan]," Time, 15 July:
      Now, here was the freshly minted FDA commissioner, still wet behind the ears at 39.
    • 2004, Jarrett Bell, "Bengals' Kitna 'classy' about losing job to Palmer ↗," USA Today, 8 Sept. (retrieved 5 Oct 2010):
      "These young whippersnappers are still wet behind the ears."
Synonyms Antonyms
  • dry behind the ears
Translations
  • German: grün hinter den Ohren green behind the ears, noch grün hinter den Ohren sein still being green behind the ears, nicht trocken hinter den Ohren not dry behind the ears, noch nicht trocken hinter den Ohren not yet dry behind the ears, feucht hinter den Ohren wet behind the ears, noch feucht hinter den Ohren still wet behind the ears
  • Italian: alle prime armi, muovere i primi passi, essere un novellino
  • Russian: молоко́ на губа́х не обсо́хло


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