eat (one's) young

(redirected from eat their young)

eat (one's) young

To neglect, betray, or harshly criticize members of a group that are of a lower status or position. The more experienced nursing staff has been accused of eating their young, treating trainees and new nurses with sometimes intolerable contempt. As the business crumbled, the CEOs and members of management began eating their young out of desperation, indiscriminately firing anyone who had less than five years' experience in the company.
See also: eat, young
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive ?
Other days I understand why some animals eat their young.
Can it ever be too cold outside to snow?
BACK IN 1986, an American nursing professor coined the phrase "Nurses eat their young", as a call to action for nurses to stop verbally abusing and belittling their inexperienced co-workers.
The kaiwhakahaere comments
In the animal world, carnivores eat placenta so the smell does not attract predators who might eat their young.
Placenta? A bit like liver but smooth as a pate... AFTER COLEEN TAKES AFTERBIRTH PILLS..
I have heard that nurses tend to "eat their young" and that the first year is the most difficult.
Greetings from Director Seat 2
There is a saying out there that nurses eat their young --let's not eat our young.
New nurse to acute nurse: a new grad in inpatient dialysis
The old saying "nurses eat their young" needs to stop.
Lateral violence in nursing train the trainers workshop
DAVID Banks (The Journal, October 5) quotes the farmers' view that badgers are at least partly or possibly totally responsible for the decline in hedgehogs as they eat their young.
Hedgehog loss a complex issue; Views of the North
But, if these birds are cannibals, because they eat their young, then what does that make us?
Cormorants aren't the only cannibals out there
Ending nurse-to-nurse hostility: Why nurses eat their young and each other.
Nurses eating their young: are we teaching students more than nursing skills?
Cheryl Dellasega will lead a session, "Spite in White: Do Nurses Really Eat Their Young (and Other Folks They Don't Like)?" Visit www.aom.org.
Calendar
It seems counter intuitive that a student nurse filled with promise and potential can be quelled, in the same manner that the potential offspring are destroyed when animals eat their young.
'Eating alive' nursing students is counter intuitive
I quickly found out that there are older techs on first shift that like to eat their young and enjoy a good spirit-crushing counseling session every so often.
Do techs want to eat their young?
Understanding Lateral Violence: Why Do Nurses Eat Their Young?
Schedule at a Glance
"They eat their young," Deputy Superintendent Stephen E.
Schools bear budget pain over the years
The service also received 'Excellence Wales' status for the creation of the innovative parenting group, 'Now I know why tigers eat their young', which was subject of a BBC documentary in December 2005.
Promoting social cohesion in Conwy; SPONSORED FEATURE
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