fact of life

Something unpleasant that must be accepted because it cannot be changed. Gloomy, rainy days are just a fact of life for the British. Death is a fact of life. Would you quit your whining? Someone out there has it worse than you—that's just a fact of life.

See also: fact, life, of

the facts of life

1. Something unpleasant that must be accepted because it cannot be changed. Gloomy, rainy days are just one of the facts of life when you live in England.

2. euphemism Lessons about sex, such as are typically taught to children or young adults. My mom talked to me about the facts of life this morning—it was so mortifying!

See also: fact, life, of

facts of life

Knowledge of sexual reproduction, as in Some people feel that the facts of life should not be taught in school. [Late 1800s] Also see birds and the bees.

See also: fact, life, of

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

facts of life

1. n. an explanation of human reproduction, especially as presented to a child. No one ever explained the facts of life to me. I read books about it.

2. n. the truth about life’s difficulties. You had better face up to the facts of life and get a job.

See also: fact, life, of

See also:

References in periodicals archive

Her character's popularity paved the way for the creation of "The Facts of Life" in which she offered motherly guidance to the young characters at an all-girl boarding school.

Actress Charlotte Rae, star of 'Facts of Life,' dead at 92

My first tv gig a millennium of moons ago was on The Facts of Life. She was just the best and nicest lady.

Charlotte Rae has died

As well as starring in Diff'rent Strokes and Facts of Life, she more recently had guest spots on TV shows including The King of Queens, Pretty Little Liars, Sisters, and ER.

Charlotte Rae dead at 92: Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life actress passes away after six-decade career; The actress, who played beloved housekeeper Mrs. Garrett, died peacefully at home in Los Angeles

Without the intensity of Smoking Poppy, or the wider canvas of Facts of Life, it seemed Limits of Enchantment could almost have been a story Joyce wrote earlier, then set aside.

WEEKEND: BOOKS: Local author will soon reel you in

Though all but forgotten today, Mom and Dad was so heavily promoted that Time once remarked that the ad campaign "left only the livestock unaware of the chance to learn the facts of life."

Kroger Babb's roadshow: how a long-running movie walked the thin line between exploitation and education

The hard cold facts of life are that the secret of being successful and getting ahead is hard work, responsibility, the rule of law and private property rights....

Ten Commandments project. (Making A Difference)

The "SimCity" series puts players in control of an urban grid with a growing population, requiring them to balance development, environmental issues and bottom-line economics against such facts of life as crime and natural disasters.

Screen and green: a survey of environmentally themed video games. (Consumer News)

Made after Khakhar was diagnosed with cancer, these works reflect on mortality but also suggest that sexual phantasmagorias mirror the tragic and often violent facts of life.

Bhupen Khakhar. (Reviews: Madrid)

Brian Clowes, PhD., The Facts of Life (second edition), 2001, $19.95 U.S., softcover, 448 pages.

Books received

It's unclear whether these problems are facts of life for cloned creatures, side effects of the procedures used to do cloning, or downsides specific to rodent clones, say the researchers.

Clones face uncertain future. (Biology)

Stress, suffering, and restrictions to creativity are accepted facts of life. The mind/body connection works both ways: physiology overburdened by the biochemistry of stress cannot support a harmonious, fulfilled life.

Ocean of consciousness: can knowledge based in East India reduce the stresses of modern American life? Tom McKinley Ball deepens our awareness of Transcendental Meditation

Yet too often, it's exactly these financial facts of life that successful parents fail to communicate to their children.

Motivating Clients Through Financial Parenting

Hold on to Your Money takes the consumer awareness approach to personal finance, as a "Financial Facts of Life" book.

Hold on to Your Money: Financial Survival for Today and Tomorrow

Grangers of the world to the punch in telling their daughters the facts of life. I even hear of divorced dads who happen to have their daughters the day Aunt Flo visits for the first time--and, without red faces or white knuckles, have driven their girls to the nearest drug store to pick up supplies.

KARENS PAGE