wet behind the ears

First use appears c. 1850 in Pennsylvania, a calque of German feucht hinter den Ohren. From the drying of amniotic fluid of a baby after birth, specifically a newborn farm animal, whose ears are the last to dry, partly because it is licked dry by its mother everywhere else. Alternative forms also derive from German.

• "[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."
• "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."
• "Now, here was the freshly minted FDA commissioner, still wet behind the ears at 39."
• ""These young whippersnappers are still wet behind the ears.""

• green behind the ears>>

• dry behind the ears