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Glite Dictionary
to come the old soldier

to come the old soldier

9.9
Act in a proud, fake way to impress others
  • idiom
  • UK
translation icon : hacerse el importante
  • Don't come the old soldier with me—I know you never served.

Examples

  • He always tries to come the old soldier when discussing his career in the military.

  • He always comes the old soldier when telling his stories.

  • She tends to come the old soldier when telling stories about her travels.

  • Don't come the old soldier with me!

  • Don't come the old soldier with me—I know you never served.

  • He always tries to come the old soldier when discussing his career in the military.

  • She tends to come the old soldier when telling stories about her travels.

Antonyms

humble
222 2.8

Not proud and not thinking you are better than others

genuineness
3 4.0

The state of being real and sincere

How Pretentious

to put on airs
  • Informal
4 8.4
to come the old soldier
  • UK
9.9
to show off
  • Informal
216 3.2
to posture
10 7.7

Surface Forms

come the old soldier infinitive
came the old soldier past
come the old soldier past participle
coming the old soldier present participle
comes the old soldier third person singular

Morphology

come + the + old + soldier

The phrase literally suggests 'act like an old soldier', so a learner who knows the words could guess it involves adopting the role or manner of a soldier (i.e. appearing experienced or tough). However the colloquial structure 'come the X' meaning 'behave pretentiously as X' and the nuance of deceitful or self-important performance are not fully predictable for a B1 learner, making it only partially transparent.

Etymology

Come the old soldier comes from the idea of someone using come to 'act as' an experienced old soldier to impress others. One popular story says people would 'come the old soldier' by telling made-up war stories or acting tough, so today it means 'to pretend to be important' or 'to show off'.