daddy's boy
3
7.9
- noun
- Offensive
:
hijo de papá
- - Come on, daddy's boy, let's see it!
Examples
-
My son and I took a very long time to bond, and he is for sure a daddy's boy.
Blog text (17) -
In fact, he was a daddy's boy.
Blog text (17) -
Is that so, daddy's boy?
-
One, I was my Daddy's boy.
Fiction book (1993) -
You're Daddy's boy.
-
You're Daddy's boy.
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He is such a daddy's boy, always seeking his father's approval before making decisions.
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As a daddy's boy, he often relies on his father to help him choose his career path.
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Many people see him as a daddy's boy because he constantly seeks his father's advice.
Surface Forms
Morphology
daddy's + boy
The phrase is compositionally built from the possessive 'daddy's' and 'boy', so a B1 learner who knows those words will readily infer a boy associated with or belonging to his father. However, the evaluative sense—being overly attached, dependent on, or doted on by his father—is a pragmatic/affective nuance that is not fully predictable from the literal parts, so the item is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The phrase daddy's boy comes from the simple image of a son who stays very close to his daddy. Imagine a small boy always at his father's side or being protected by him, so today it means 'too attached' or 'too dependent' on his father.