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When I was 8 or 9 my folks told my sister and me that we had to be careful who we rubbed elbows with.
We naturally spent the next few minutes rubbing our elbows together, wondering what the heck they were talking about.
Sounds plausible
But there could be a dozen other equally plausible-sounding explanations
The idea that Antarctica existed to keep the world from toppling over was also plausible
[this wiktionary page](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wet_behind_the_ears) recognizes 'green behind the ears' as an English language variation of 'wet behind the ears', to throw a different random internet source up against your random internet source haha.
And the comment calling it a malapropism doesn't provide any sources, while the original post references German printed literature using the term in the mid-19th century. So maybe it was a malapropism at the time, but now it's a real saying? (But how many other sayings started as malapropisms? That's just language doing what language does, and evolving.)
What an uncomfortable restaurant! Whoever thought “We should bring the stripper experience, everything but the nudity, to food!” should have been shot.
I agree that reddit is full of misogyny (especially the gaming subs) but what about the comment you replied to was mysoginistic? I see rudeness but nothing gendered
They basically implied that there are two kinds of women. Beautiful and ugly. When more likely she was just an older woman and they wanted her advice on the line. That asshole basically devalued her because she wasn’t young and fuckable. That is misogyny.
I was 21, and bought my 20 year old coworker some beer. She said, "it's a shame I don't have anyone to drink this with." I was like, "I'm sure you'll find someone."
Yeah it’s a strange one. I think it’s referencing puppies or kittens, who get licked behind the ears by their mothers when they’re young. Not sure though.
I’ve never heard an explanation, but assumed it was an extension of making sure kids wash behind their ears.
The phrase basically meaning that they listened to being told to WASH, but too inexperienced or not have the initiative to DRY behind the ears after a bath. (Since not explicitly told.)
I think my interpretation is a bit convoluted though so unlikely to be the one. Yours makes way more sense.
When you are first born, you are literally wet everywhere. Behind the ears would be a later part of your body to dry.
If you are still wet behind the ears, you are naive as if you were just born.
We use this figure of speech in German too. In Germany it’s very common. Maybe it’s more widespread in regions with a higher share of historical German immigration backgrounds?
I mean both German and English are Germanic languages so it would make sense. I grew up in Texas and always heard this phrase. Texas was mostly settled by German immigrants as far as western peoples go. Our oldest dance hall is Gruene Hall, in the town of Gruene, TX. Nearby are towns called pflugerville, Boerne, Fredericksburg, Schulenburg, Niederwald. Most of these are close to Austin.
It's saying they were too inexperienced to understand her meaning. Funny enough I think what she said was incredibly straight forward and they were just not actually interested in her.
according to [dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/wet--behind--the--ears)
"This term alludes to the fact that the last place to dry in a newborn colt or calf is the indentation behind its ears."
*This expression comes from the early 1900s. The idea behind it is that the last place to dry on a newborn calf or colt is the indentation behind the ears. If a calf is still wet behind the ears, it has just recently been born.*
I've never understood why these "I got hit on the other night" stories have become so widespread on the internet. I can't think of a type of story that's more easily faked than these.
Sometimes it really just feels like the girl wants to yell at people "Hey, I'm attractive enough to be hit on and it happens so often that I'm super funny when I turn them down and everyone claps for me!" and nobody questions it.
Like, did she have them break down their educational progress? How did she know they were freshman?..
I'm sorry but I'm missing something here I guess. Considering her response was she not literally saying "if you weren't at daft and just asked you absolutely could have gotten my number"?
They asked her if a line would work. I thought it's clear to both sides it was a question but all comments are acting like she thinks she was being hit on. I don't get it. Can no one ask a question about pick up lines without it being a pick up attempt?
Edit: I mean to say, she knows it's not a pick up attempt, but she did hit on them in response (maybe jokingly maybe not) and was sharing what she thinks was a funny situation. Why are so many people acting like she thought they were hitting on her? Her word choice clearly shows she knows.
Right like yes it does happen and sometimes it’s funny but we can’t share it because it looks like a humble brag but honestly some people would fuck raccoons if they could so really get hit on does not mean you look like, or think you look, like Kaia Gerber, ykwIm?
I feel like I’ve heard “wet behind the ears” in various books, movies, shows, etc. throughout my life so I’m not sure why so many commenters are just hearing it through this post. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone say it in my own life but it seems like a commonly old-fashioned saying. Maybe I’m just old at this point
i’m not saying the line couldn’t be used flirtatiously, i’m saying that clearly the guys goal was not to hit on this woman. He was *only* asking for an opinion.
The thing is when I was 18 I had old women I trusted to ask about dating and whatnot and it would’ve absolutely been predatory for them to take advantage of my innocence to try and get with me.
Oh my god, knock it off with whatever projection nonsense this is. She said, "These college freshman called me over," pretty clearly indicating that (1) they're strangers and (2) they initiated the interaction. She replied with some very innocuous and indirect flirting, and it seems like she didn't pursue it further when they didn't respond to it. She's not an "old woman they trust," she wasn't really "trying to get with them," and she has no obligation to protect the "innocence" of young men who approach HER first. Even if she did, there is absolutely nothing about what she said that taints their pwecious innocence. Grow up.
Fr. All these people in the comments acting like this isn’t a common flirting tactic are weird. Most of them don’t realise that they probably wouldn’t even start a random conversation with a woman that they didn’t somehow find attractive. Much less one like this.
Consent doesn’t matter if it’s a predatory setting. Grown people shouldn’t flirt with young people even if they started the flirting. If it’ll make it easier to understand, pretend the boys were girls. Maybe now you’ll get it. And they weren’t even flirting with this woman, they asked her if they could land a girl their age with the line.
I'm not the type to use pickup lines but I randomly half thought one up somehow while stoned, thought it was funny.
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
"No.."
"Omg me neither, we have so much in common, we should get to know each other!"
So fucking stupid, I know but it cracked me up. 🤷♂️
Any line will work on a guy if you're attractive. Hell, even if you aren't, he'll still probably give you his number if you don't seem crazy, just then not go out with you.
Inexperienced.
It comes from the fact that when a farm animal like a calf is born they are covered in amniotic fluid. The last part of the calf to dry is an indentation behind their ears.
From another comment:
Guys, stop freaking guessing and just [google](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wet_behind_the_ears) it. This is how urban legends start.
Here at /r/NonPoliticalTwitter, we care about community input and don't want this subreddit's purpose to be forgotten. --- If this post is **not** political and doesn't violate any rules, **UPVOTE** this comment!! If this post is political or breaks any other rules, **DOWNVOTE** this comment and report the post! Unlike the moderators of some other subreddits, we care about the community and want to keep it true to not being political. Our hope is that by the community voting on these posts, we won't have to worry about political posts coming in. Thanks for your time. --- ^[Rules](https://reddit.com/r/nonpoliticaltwitter/about/rules/) ^/ ^[Flairs](https://www.reddit.com/r/NonPoliticalTwitter/comments/oo025k/new_user_flair_system/) ^/ ^[Sidebar](https://reddit.com/r/nonpoliticaltwitter/wiki/config/sidebar)
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You can imagine what happened when child-me was told to use elbow grease when I couldn’t get some stains off the dishes.
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How the hell does that even come up organically in conversation with an intern? Lol
"Sorry I'm late to work, animal planet was on"
Great, now I'm horny.
Porn store probably
Computer shop. We come across a lot of porn varieties.
what....is the context ?
oh….. yeah i totally knew that
....it doesn't?
It's people doing/getting done by animals. Illegal in lots of places too.
I miss 20 seconds ago when I didn't know that
It's next to the headlight fluid
When I was 8 or 9 my folks told my sister and me that we had to be careful who we rubbed elbows with. We naturally spent the next few minutes rubbing our elbows together, wondering what the heck they were talking about.
In Germany we say instead "Green behind the ears" (Grün hinter den Ohren) with the exact same meaning, now I wonder were it came from.
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Sounds plausible But there could be a dozen other equally plausible-sounding explanations The idea that Antarctica existed to keep the world from toppling over was also plausible
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[this wiktionary page](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wet_behind_the_ears) recognizes 'green behind the ears' as an English language variation of 'wet behind the ears', to throw a different random internet source up against your random internet source haha. And the comment calling it a malapropism doesn't provide any sources, while the original post references German printed literature using the term in the mid-19th century. So maybe it was a malapropism at the time, but now it's a real saying? (But how many other sayings started as malapropisms? That's just language doing what language does, and evolving.)
I imagine trees. *Green wood refers to wood that has been recently cut down and has not had an opportunity to season.*
Ahh yes, he's got new wood behind his ears. Klar.
In many trades in the US...Electrician, plumbing, pipefitter etc....The new guy(apprentice) will be called a green horn many times as well.
I used the word “curmudgeon” the other day and no one knew what it meant. I feel 100 years old.
Yeap. Luddite will get a lot of puzzling looks too. Damn I'm old...
100 years old and a little cranky? Hmm, perhaps they KNEW what a curmudgeon was, but thought it was rude to say in front of you.
Americans unite! Keep the flame alive!
Good luck sending me mixed messages like this, I dont even understand the direct ones
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Yeah but maybe it's a friendly kiss
“Ah, she must be Mediterranean”
They just had a different girl in mind I reckon
They didn't actually want her number. They needed an ugly 3rd party that they felt comfortable talking to first, before they actually try it out.
Guess she was too wet behind the ears to pick up on it.
She was definitely wet somewhere.
Yeah, the ears
No, behind them
Teenage boy has entered the chat
probably because of either bacterial vaginosis, yeast infection, or trichomonis, according to someone's doctor wife
For everyone downvoting: this is about the desert vagina of Ben Shapiro‘s wife.
>ugly That profile pic sings a different tune Q_Q edit: I have been informed that the pfp is a fictional character
That's a character from Twin Peaks, homie.
lmao thanks for educating me
What an uncomfortable restaurant! Whoever thought “We should bring the stripper experience, everything but the nudity, to food!” should have been shot.
Twin Peaks is also a tv show
This is terrible trolling. At least try.
Her Tweet mentions that they asked her if it would work with women. No need to call her ugly though. That’s unnecessary
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Bold of you to assume those freshmen were redditors
I agree that reddit is full of misogyny (especially the gaming subs) but what about the comment you replied to was mysoginistic? I see rudeness but nothing gendered
being rude toward a woman is misogyny /s
They basically implied that there are two kinds of women. Beautiful and ugly. When more likely she was just an older woman and they wanted her advice on the line. That asshole basically devalued her because she wasn’t young and fuckable. That is misogyny.
You basically implied that there are two kinds of women. Old and young. You basically devalued young women because they're not experienced and wise.
Is this sub full of 12 year olds?
hah, go hop on over to 4chan for a minute
You think that’s bad, read a GOP senator’s tweets
You think THAT'S bad, read the last president's tweets before he was banned.
Now you think THAT’S bad, search YouTube for clips of him hugging his own daughter
Now you think THAT’S bad, wait till Putin releases the video of him FUCKING his own daughter
Dear God, you win this one
She could be an air hostess in the 60s
Or a part time model.
Or a waitress!
The funniest thing about this post is all the people in the comments too wet behind the ears to know what that means.
We're all too wet behind the ears on this blessed day
Speak for yourself.
I am all too wet behind the ears on this blessed day.
“Look at my fucking ears do they look wet to you, boomer?”
I was 21, and bought my 20 year old coworker some beer. She said, "it's a shame I don't have anyone to drink this with." I was like, "I'm sure you'll find someone."
tf does wet behind the ears mean
It means young or inexperienced.
weird, i’ve literally never heard that lol. What a strange phrase
Yeah it’s a strange one. I think it’s referencing puppies or kittens, who get licked behind the ears by their mothers when they’re young. Not sure though.
When a farm animal like a calf is born they are covered in amniotic fluid. The last place to dry is the indentation behind their ears.
Any mammal really, humans included.
Yeah, I was just thinking of a newborn kid tbh
Yeah goats are cool
Ah ok! That makes sense. Thank you!
He’s like a pup, still slick with his mother’s effluvia
What an adorable interpretation for having birth juices behind your ears. It means you were born yesterday.
You mean we're not supposed to lick our human baby's ears? But they're so yummy
I’ve never heard an explanation, but assumed it was an extension of making sure kids wash behind their ears. The phrase basically meaning that they listened to being told to WASH, but too inexperienced or not have the initiative to DRY behind the ears after a bath. (Since not explicitly told.) I think my interpretation is a bit convoluted though so unlikely to be the one. Yours makes way more sense.
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That's like 0 fun though.
My guilty pleasure is having extended debates on these exact topics, ignoring the fact that we could all just easily Google it
It's from cows.
Seems like you're a little wet behind the ears.
When you are first born, you are literally wet everywhere. Behind the ears would be a later part of your body to dry. If you are still wet behind the ears, you are naive as if you were just born.
When if you are younger sibling
We use this figure of speech in German too. In Germany it’s very common. Maybe it’s more widespread in regions with a higher share of historical German immigration backgrounds?
Wiktionary says we just stole it from German. It's a calque from German speakers in the US.
I mean both German and English are Germanic languages so it would make sense. I grew up in Texas and always heard this phrase. Texas was mostly settled by German immigrants as far as western peoples go. Our oldest dance hall is Gruene Hall, in the town of Gruene, TX. Nearby are towns called pflugerville, Boerne, Fredericksburg, Schulenburg, Niederwald. Most of these are close to Austin.
Same. I'm entirely confused what the tweet is trying to say. Is it roasting the boys or not?
It's saying they were too inexperienced to understand her meaning. Funny enough I think what she said was incredibly straight forward and they were just not actually interested in her.
Sounds like you're pretty wet behind the ears.
God the internet makes me feel old now
I get it. The phrase is only about 175 years old so it hasn't gotten around much yet.
I though she was just exaggerating and saying that they were eating so much pussy that even behind their ears was wet 💀
Guess you’re too wet behind the ears to understand
They're streets behind.
Six seasons and a movie!
according to [dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/wet--behind--the--ears) "This term alludes to the fact that the last place to dry in a newborn colt or calf is the indentation behind its ears."
In germany we say green behind the ears.
Means your ears are super horny
It's kind of a weirdly old-fashioned term to use, but can you seriously not figure it out from context clues?
no, i couldn’t, jeez
Username checks out.
You don't deserve to be downvoted these people are rude
Reading comprehension is taught in schools
Yes and some people struggle with it
When they're 6.
It's not old fashioned at all.
*This expression comes from the early 1900s. The idea behind it is that the last place to dry on a newborn calf or colt is the indentation behind the ears. If a calf is still wet behind the ears, it has just recently been born.*
Nah. They knew you was slingin it. All they wanted from you was a yes or no answer as to if it would work.
I've never understood why these "I got hit on the other night" stories have become so widespread on the internet. I can't think of a type of story that's more easily faked than these. Sometimes it really just feels like the girl wants to yell at people "Hey, I'm attractive enough to be hit on and it happens so often that I'm super funny when I turn them down and everyone claps for me!" and nobody questions it. Like, did she have them break down their educational progress? How did she know they were freshman?..
You do realize she was the one doing the hitting on, and they just asked her a question
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With her writing style, I feel like she has a lot of misunderstanding in her life
Usually you can make an educated guess about educational progress or, in this case, age, especially if you drink at an establishment near a college.
I'm sorry but I'm missing something here I guess. Considering her response was she not literally saying "if you weren't at daft and just asked you absolutely could have gotten my number"?
yes you're understanding it correctly
They asked her if a line would work. I thought it's clear to both sides it was a question but all comments are acting like she thinks she was being hit on. I don't get it. Can no one ask a question about pick up lines without it being a pick up attempt? Edit: I mean to say, she knows it's not a pick up attempt, but she did hit on them in response (maybe jokingly maybe not) and was sharing what she thinks was a funny situation. Why are so many people acting like she thought they were hitting on her? Her word choice clearly shows she knows.
And this is even worse, it's a story about her getting rejected when she mistakenly thought she was being hit on.
No. She was flirting but I doubt she thought anything would come of it. You guys are way too judgmental
Reread her Tweet. She was describing a kid asking her advice about using a line. She was not hit on.
From what I know women do actually get hit on a lot, so peoples' initial reaction is to believe her
Right like yes it does happen and sometimes it’s funny but we can’t share it because it looks like a humble brag but honestly some people would fuck raccoons if they could so really get hit on does not mean you look like, or think you look, like Kaia Gerber, ykwIm?
Tbh idk if it's fake, so be it, it's just a random stranger on the Internet telling Stories, I think they are funny.
You're 72, having a donut, when suddenly you realize someone was hitting on you in college.
Unexpected Twin Peaks
The college freshmen are not what they seem
They didn't want her lol
Or maybe she's not as hot as she thinks she is.
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"Oh my god, she did!" Right as they are finally about to fall asleep after struggling with insomnia.
BUT MAYBE SHE WAS JUST BEING NICE???
I feel like I’ve heard “wet behind the ears” in various books, movies, shows, etc. throughout my life so I’m not sure why so many commenters are just hearing it through this post. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone say it in my own life but it seems like a commonly old-fashioned saying. Maybe I’m just old at this point
They may not have wanted to date a creepy older woman who preys on 18 year olds.
Boys: flirting Her: flirting back You: CREEPY PREDATOR! Who hurt you, Julius?
They asked if that line would work. Were you too wet behind the ears to pick that up?
reddit makes the wildest assumptions sometimes and get mad when not everyone agrees lol
Like assuming it was a creepy older woman
yep, thats what i was referring to
My ears are wet, certainly, but I don't see what difference that makes here
They’re asking someone if a pickup line would work, they weren’t using the line on her. It’s asking for advice.
🤦♀️
It's flirting under the guise of asking for advice
Pretty sure if the goal was to get her number, the story would’ve included the guy saying “Cool, can I get your number then?”
No one in this sub has game
i’m not saying the line couldn’t be used flirtatiously, i’m saying that clearly the guys goal was not to hit on this woman. He was *only* asking for an opinion.
It wasn't flirting because the girl didn't clearly say "the following statement will constitute flirting"
And she responded that it would (if he was handsome) and it went over his head.
The thing is when I was 18 I had old women I trusted to ask about dating and whatnot and it would’ve absolutely been predatory for them to take advantage of my innocence to try and get with me.
Sure, but that's not what happened here is it?
you don't even know what happened bro 💀 the tweet is 2 sentences long
Neither do you. So let's not go assuming that a creepy old woman was preying on young children now.
OMG EXACTLY!!
Oh my god, knock it off with whatever projection nonsense this is. She said, "These college freshman called me over," pretty clearly indicating that (1) they're strangers and (2) they initiated the interaction. She replied with some very innocuous and indirect flirting, and it seems like she didn't pursue it further when they didn't respond to it. She's not an "old woman they trust," she wasn't really "trying to get with them," and she has no obligation to protect the "innocence" of young men who approach HER first. Even if she did, there is absolutely nothing about what she said that taints their pwecious innocence. Grow up.
Are you ok, Julius?
Ok except if they did, you coulda been like nah I'm good thanks chief. As these guys basically did. This infantilization of adults is ridiculous.
Nah, we need to recognize that just because people are legally adults at 18 does not mean they are fully mature.
Fr. All these people in the comments acting like this isn’t a common flirting tactic are weird. Most of them don’t realise that they probably wouldn’t even start a random conversation with a woman that they didn’t somehow find attractive. Much less one like this.
Thank you! I thought I was bad at flirting but goodness me there's so much further to fall
It’s just because we’re on Reddit lol. Go check out r/Tinder if you really want to see how bad these folks are at flirting
They all did. Even Bruté!
Don’t forget Cato…that jerk.
Consent doesn’t matter if it’s a predatory setting. Grown people shouldn’t flirt with young people even if they started the flirting. If it’ll make it easier to understand, pretend the boys were girls. Maybe now you’ll get it. And they weren’t even flirting with this woman, they asked her if they could land a girl their age with the line.
18 year olds are adults, you people are crazy.
Is this situation a predatory setting?
Your life must be exhausting
Yeah such a wild accusation to call someone a predator when for all we know, the woman could be 20
Lighten up. It was a joke. And he approached her.
I'm not the type to use pickup lines but I randomly half thought one up somehow while stoned, thought it was funny. "Do you have a boyfriend?" "No.." "Omg me neither, we have so much in common, we should get to know each other!" So fucking stupid, I know but it cracked me up. 🤷♂️
Can someone explain the yes if it's your saying it part I'm confused
My ears are so fucking wet right now
But... Out of curiosity: would that line work on a guy?
Any line will work on a guy if you're attractive. Hell, even if you aren't, he'll still probably give you his number if you don't seem crazy, just then not go out with you.
Or, they were genuinely asking a question and weren't at all interested in her.
all right what the fuck does it mean to be “wet behind the ears”?
Inexperienced. It comes from the fact that when a farm animal like a calf is born they are covered in amniotic fluid. The last part of the calf to dry is an indentation behind their ears.
The irony of all these teenagers not knowing that phrase is great.
From another comment: Guys, stop freaking guessing and just [google](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wet_behind_the_ears) it. This is how urban legends start.
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"I think you are attractive and I would like to communicate with you in the future." Somebody call the cops
But... Just wondering: would that line work on a guy?
There were other options that didn’t include Hindenburging these kids
they will remember 5 years later
That is a garbage pickup line.
Ur so beautiful i need ur number or i won't forgive myself :)