old boy
83
8.0
- noun
- UK
- Listen to me, old boy.
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Watch on YouTubeYeah, but it wasn't just like, I'm sorry, old boy, you're being put down, girl.
- Yeah, but it wasn't just like, I'm sorry, old boy, you're being put down, girl.
Examples
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"We'll get you your answers, old boy," Itagne assured him, "quicker and in much greater detail."
Fiction book (1993) -
-We got you, old boy.
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Be careful, old boy, you might hit me.
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No, you cannot think of leaving without paying the old boy a visit.
Fiction book (1997) -
Trouble with the chemistry set, old boy?
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The thing is, Max, old boy, I'm dying.
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What's gotten into you, old boy, huh?
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Welcome home, old boy.
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Maybe he's just a good old boy who likes to taunt the tourists.
Fiction book (1992) -
It's been ages since we last met, hasn't it, old boy?
Synonyms
∞
7.4
An informal, friendly way to refer to a group of friends who are men
614
1.4
A man or boy you speak to in a friendly way
244
2.7
A friendly way to call a man often older or in charge
68
8.0
A man who is polite or has good manners
16
8.2
A friendly name people use for an older man in Britain
9
8.8
A friendly, informal name used for a man you know well
6
8.4
A man or boy you call in a friendly way
6
9.9
An informal word for a guy friend, like bro
5
9.5
A friendly word for a man or boy
1
9.1
An old man people speak about in a friendly or polite way
1
8.1
A friend you have known for a long time, often since childhood
1
9.9
A friendly name for an old man used in Ireland
Antonyms
How Familiar
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituent 'old' can be interpreted as 'former' and 'boy' as a male person, so a learner could infer 'a man who used to be a pupil'. However, the phrase is a conventional British institutional label (often implying alumni of certain private schools) and relies on a colloquial use of 'boy' for adults, so the exact social nuance is not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
Old boy began as a friendly way for men who had known each other a long time to speak to one another. old shows the long history and boy is a playful, friendly word, so it became a warm form of address like 'How have you been, old boy?'.