like mother, like daughter
- idiom
:
de tal palo, tal astilla
- She became a doctor just like her mom—like mother, like daughter.
Examples
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They both have a passion for gardening; like mother, like daughter.
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You can tell she got her artistic talent from her mom; it's truly like mother, like daughter.
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Whenever I see them laugh together, I think, 'like mother, like daughter.'
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It's clear that like mother, like daughter when you see them together.
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Everyone says, like mother, like daughter, especially in their mannerisms.
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Everyone comments that like mother, like daughter when they see how similar they act.
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Every time they sing together, it reminds me of like mother, like daughter.
Synonyms
7
4.4
A person who is very like one of their parents in looks or behaviour
1
5.4
Children often look and behave like their parents
A daughter who her mother likes best and who is like her
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
like + mother, + like + daughter
The meaning is directly built from the constituents: 'like' = similar and 'mother'/'daughter' are clear family roles, so the pattern 'like X, like Y' transparently denotes shared qualities or behaviors. This comparative proverb follows a common cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the individual words will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Like mother, like daughter shows a simple picture: a girl watches her mother and copies her, so the daughter acts the same. That's why people say it to mean 'a daughter has qualities or behavior similar to her mother'.