the way of the world
6
5.0
- idiom
:
la forma en que funciona el mundo
- But it's been the way of the world for quite some time now.
- just the way of the world
- such is the way of the world
Well, it's not as if the way of the world wasn't there already.
- Well, it's not as if the way of the world wasn't there already.
- This makes me sad, but it is the way of the world.
- She can either agree to masculine logic principles, the way of the world, however you want to frame it.
- And obviously, like you said earlier, social media is the way of the world now.
- And, you know, we get a chance to have a have a pop any politician, you know, it's just the way of the world.
Examples
-
That's just the way of the world.
Blog text (16) -
"It's the way of the world," she says.
Academic text (2001) -
- Seems to be the way of the world these days.
-
This is the way of the world.
-
It's the way of the world!
-
It's the way of the world.
-
"It's not fair, but it's the way of the world."
Academic text (2003) -
That was the way of the world.
Fiction book (2002) -
That's the way of the world.
-
Many people often complain about unfairness, but that's just the way of the world.
Synonyms
193
2.4
The usual habits, beliefs, and actions of a person or group
187
3.7
A usual way people in a group behave
2
6.0
The usual rules and customs people learn to live in society
Antonyms
How Typical
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'way' (manner) with 'of the world' (of human affairs), so the meaning 'the manner in which people usually behave or things generally happen' is directly derivable from the constituents. This noun-of-noun composition is cross-linguistically common and follows ordinary semantic composition, so a B1 learner who knows the words is likely to understand it.
Etymology
The way of the world may come from the simple image of a road: the way people follow through life and the whole world of people around them. That picture shows why the phrase means 'how people usually behave' or 'the usual order of things'.