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Difference between Be all wet and Be wet

be all wet—(U.S. coll.) be completely wrong:

  • If you think I’m going to take that kind of talk from you, you’re all wet.

be wet—(UK coll.) be unable to make decisions or take firm actions:

  • Don’t be so wet! Just tell them that you don’t want to go.

Note: Neither expression correlates in meaning with the phrase be wet behind the ears—(coll.) be young, naive, and inexperienced:

  • For a twenty-five-year-old kid, still wet behind his ears, he got a lot of wisdom from somewhere.

Cf.: be dry behind the ears—be mature or experienced:

  • The three children, barely dry behind the ears, have taken over running the family dairy.