come the old soldier
Often followed by with: to deceive, impose upon, or take advantage of someone, as if exploiting one's superior age or experience.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Do not try to come the old soldier with me.”
“He often comes the old soldier to get out of doing difficult chores.”
“He tried to come the old soldier with the new manager, pretending he knew more about the rules than he actually did.”
“My grandfather loves to come the old soldier whenever I try to explain how modern technology works to him.”
“The senior partner tried to come the old soldier during the meeting to stop the younger staff from suggesting new ideas.”
“The seasoned clerk attempted to come the old soldier with the young trainee, hoping to manipulate the situation by feigning a depth of experience he did not possess.”
From *come*, in the sense of behaving in a specific manner or pretending to be, and *old soldier*, a term for one who has served for a long time or possesses significant experience. The idiom describes the act of leveraging one’s age or seniority to take advantage of another.
- 01
any old nook or cranny
Alternative form of any nook or cranny.
- 02
appetite comes with eating
Starting an activity increases one's desire to continue it.
- 03
as they come
As it is possible to be.
- 04
bad old days
The past, seen as a time when things were worse.
- 05
big old
Emphatically or impressively big; really big.
- 06
blow to kingdom come
To totally destroy (something); to annihilate or wipe out (something).
- 07
burn that bridge when one comes to it
To anticipate dealing with a problem or situation either by acting in a manner that alienates or cuts ties with others, or merely with the expectation of encountering trouble.
- 08
chip off the old block
Someone who takes after one of their parents; (generally) a person similar to another.
Last updated August 10, 2026