as the old cock crows, so crows the young
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Children often imitate their parents' behavior
Literally: young chickens mimic old rooster's crow
Examples
As the old cock crows, so crows the young, and now the son is just as stubborn as his father
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “as the old cock crows, so crows the young” mean?
Children often imitate their parents' behavior Literally: young chickens mimic old rooster's crow
Is “as the old cock crows, so crows the young” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.