boys will be boys

Proverb

boys will be boys

1. It is hard, often fruitless, to attempt to curb the natural playfulness and tendency to mischief of most growing boys.
   • But just then there was a slight altercation between Master Tommy and Master Jacky. Boys will be boys and our two twins were no exception to this golden rule.1922, James Joyce, chapter 13, in Ulysses
2. Even grown men usually remain somewhat boyish at heart.
   • Boys will be boys, grinned Grandpa as he watched his adult son playing with the fancy train-set he had given his grandson for Christmas.
3. (informal, offensive) Any potentially objectionable behavior (especially predatory sexual behavior) that the speaker considers to be commonly practiced by many boys and men should be viewed as excusable because it comes naturally to them.
   • It's not hard to see the parallels between the sexual assault accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the 2012 Steubenville rape case. Three decades apart, there is one central difference: Kavanaugh has denied the allegations, and has never been criminally charged. In the...2018 September 27, Mary Kilpatrick, “Why the 'boys will be boys' justification of sexual violence doesn't fly: Comparing Kavanaugh to Steubenville”, in Shatter on Cleveland.com, published 29 January...