Here are some example sentences using the expression like father, like son:
This is to say that the expression can be flattering or disparaging. Or, maybe both father and son have a really short temper, or both mother and daughter are unnecessarily anxious in given settings. For example, maybe both father and son really love cooking, or both mother and daughter are really talented actors. Typically, they’re used to point out notable similarities in this regard. Perhaps most often, the expressions like father, like son and like mother, like daughter are used to discuss behaviors and actions, verus physical appearance. While societies may have, and perpetuate in a variety of ways, a cultural expectation that sons will be more like their fathers and daughters more like their mothers, hence the expressions, there’s no scientific basis for this. Of course, sons can be like their mothers and daughters like their fathers, in both appearance and behavior. As adults, we tend to speak and act like our parents, or the parental figures who raised us from a young age, thus the phrase like father, like son, as well as the similar expression like mother, like daughter, which is also commonly used today.
Like father like son quotes how to#
In doing so, we learn from them how to exist in the world, and their beliefs and behaviors shape our beliefs and behaviors. nurture debate around human development, with nature referring to a person’s genes and nurture meaning our environment.) Growing up, we observe our parents: We watch everything they do and listen to everything they say, including their specific rules for us and their advice for navigating this thing called life. This is in part due to genetics and the specific traits, such as hair color and eye color, that we inherit from our parents. (As you can now see, the phrase uses the definition of like meaning “the same or nearly the same,” or “having similar characteristics.”)Ĭhildren usually look and act similarly to their parents. In other words, this expression is used to describe a son who takes after his father in some way, either in terms of appearance or behavior. In the same manner from generation (father) to generation (son) You know the words like, father, and son-although you do need to land on which definition of like the phrase uses-and so it isn’t too much of a stretch to arrive at its meaning: While its grammatical structure may not make too much sense (more in a minute), the language is simplistic and straightforward. Unlike other common phrases explored at The Word Counter, it’s fairly easy to determine the meaning of the expression like father, like son just by looking at the words that comprise it.