Wet behind the ears
Meaning: New and inexperienced
Originated in: 🇨🇭 Switzerland
Original quote:
Naß hinter den Ohren
(German)
Earliest attestation: Hudibras by Samuel Butler (1678), as translated by Johann Heinrich Waser (1765)
To be wet behind the ears is to be new and inexperienced. The idiom refers to a newborn being covered in amniotic fluid immediately after birth. Though the fluid is quickly cleaned off, behind the ears is a spot that is often missed at first by animal parents. Therefore it is literally calling someone a baby, though it only means the metaphorical meaning by that.
Some simple research by Ben Zinner and Chris Waigl showed that it originated in the European German community in the 18th century before being translated into English in the late 19th by German immigrants in America. Though it is not thought of as such today, this makes it a saying with a surprisingly strong tie to the German language, along with its farming roots.
Typically this saying is used in a lightly teasing manner to refer to new team members. These people are young and don’t yet know what they are doing at the job, so older team members dismiss them in certain regards as infants unable to handle them, while acknowledging that they will learn and grow into the role. It can be seen as insulting in some contexts, but it is generally not meant as such and is just humorous and almost optimistic.