I had not cut my wise teeth.
Meaning: Lacking experience or maturity, one cannot yet recognize or act upon good judgment.
Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.
More proverbs about Wisdom
- Desperate cuts must have desperate cures. — Severe problems require bold, unconventional solutions, even if risky or painful.
- No longer pipe, no longer dance. — When the music stops, those dependent on it must cease their enjoyment and move forward.
- He dances well to whom fortune pipes. — Success comes easily to those blessed with favorable circumstances rather than personal e…
- Dainty dogs may have to eat dirty puddings. — Those unwilling to compromise their preferences may face deprivation when circumstances d…
- He that gropes in the dark finds that he would not. — Blind searching without guidance leads to unwanted discoveries rather than intended ones.
- It's a wicked thing to make a dearth one's garner. — Hoarding grain during scarcity exploits others' hunger for personal profit, compounding c…
From our untranslatable words
- Yurodivy — One who plays the fool deliberately as a religious act, and is therefore licensed to spea…
- Khalyava — Something good got for free and without effort — and, strictly, something you were never…
- Beloruchka — Someone who dodges dirty or hard work — a person whose hands stay conspicuously clean.