Idiom: You can't teach an old dog new tricks

 

"You can't teach an old dog new tricks."


Meaning

  • It is used to say that a person who is old or is used to doing things in a certain way cannot learn or does not want to learn a new way.
  • ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ means that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to change the way a person does something when they have been doing it the same way for many years. In other words, you can’t change someone’s long-established ways, especially as people grow older. The expression can relate to a person’s habits, traits or mindset. 


Example Sentences

  • There's no way to teach your grandpa to read his news on the phone. You can't teach an old dog new tricks!

  • My secretary has been using that old manual typewriter for more than twenty years and I cannot get to change to a word processor; it seems you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
  • My mom is 75 years old now and I’ve been trying to teach her how to surf the Internet for ages but she just doesn’t seem to get it. I guess you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
  • You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but you certainly can teach an adult a new language.
  • My 17 year old son has just started having driving lesson and he is now trying to give me tips on driving and road safety. I reminded him that I have been driving for 30 years without even one accident or one speeding ticket. I don’t know who he thinks he is! I told him, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, son!”
  • Kids are constantly going home and sharing with their parents what they've learned, and they're changing how things are being done at home. So they're educating their parents how to protect our oceans. When they say, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks," they were wrong.
  • The notion that you can't teach an old dog new tricks isn't even true for dogs. We're always learning new things.
  • In the general case, there is no point you can't teach an old dog new tricks in reality, with an awful lot of studies looking at our brains learning new skills at all ages firmly backing this up.
  • Is it true that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? No! Despite what this phrase says, it is possible for older dogs to learn new things.
  • I tried showing my grandpa how to use a game console controller, but it seems you can’t teach an old dog new tricks because he didn’t seem to get it.
  • Your father is 90 years old. You want to teach him how to use a computer? Forget it! You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, you know!


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