Boys will be boys

Children can be expected to act in a childish way.

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Notes

“Boys will be boys” is often applied to grown men who act childishly.

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Idioms and Phrases

One can expect boys to act childishly or misbehave, as in We told the kids not to eat in the living room, but when we got home there was a big mess there—oh well, boys will be boys . This term came from a Latin proverb, translated as “Children [boys] are children [boys] and do childish things.” In English it was first recorded in 1589.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“Boys will be boys, and we will let their public sparring continue,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.

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"Boys will be boys! And we will let their public sparring continue. And you guys should all be very grateful that we have the most transparent administration in history."

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“I know you ain’t used to a female alpha,” she sang in the title track of “Future Nostalgia” in 2020, and she denounced male entitlement in “Boys Will Be Boys.”

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That report warned that a “boys will be boys” attitude “is very much still around.”

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He starred as Chazz Russell in Boys Will Be Boys and had roles in shows including Growing Pains.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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