be born yesterday en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
Meanings
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(in the negative, informal, no-past-participle, no-present-participle, stative) To be new, naive, innocent, inexperienced, or easily deceived.
"Do you think," he added, with an ironical grin, "that you'll go for to gammon me into that air! I'm hinnocent, I know, but I wasn't born yesterday exactly."
1840, Henry Cockton, chapter 60, in The Life and Adventures of Valentine Vox, the Ventriloquist, page 508:If you don't know important things about history, then it's as if you were born yesterday.
2005, Howard Zinn, Donaldo Pereira Macedo, Howard Zinn on Democratic Education, page 69:"Compared to me, you were born yesterday."
1998, Gwyn Hyman Rubio, Icy Sparks, page 155:I was not born yesterday, you know. I have done this before!
"Say, do I look like I was born yesterday? See any green in my eye, Cactus Center?"
1915, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 6, in Steve Yeager:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| is born yesterday | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| was born yesterday | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Relateds
not one's first rodeo · today years old · born at night but not last night
Synonyms
come down in the last shower · fall off the turnip truck · be born last week
Translations (19)
it essere nato ieri (to be inexperienced) · fi olla märkäkorva (to be inexperienced) · es nacer ayer (to be inexperienced) · pl spaść z księżyca (to be inexperienced) · de von gestern sein (to be inexperienced) · pt ser nascido ontem (to be inexperienced) · es caerse del nido (to be inexperienced) · fi olla eilisen teeren poika (to be inexperienced) · sv född i farstun (to be inexperienced) · nl van gisteren zijn (to be inexperienced) · ru вчера́ роди́лся (to be inexperienced) · hu most jött le a falvédőről (to be inexperienced) · es caerse de un guindo (to be inexperienced) · es chuparse el dedo (to be inexperienced) · gd cha b' ann an-diugh no an-dè a rugadh mise (to be inexperienced) · fr ne pas être né de la dernière pluie (to be inexperienced) · hu most jött a hathúszassal (to be inexperienced) · sv vara född igår (to be inexperienced) · es haber nacido ayer (to be inexperienced)