university of life

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university of life (plural universities of life)

1. (idiomatic, chiefly UK and Ireland) The real world as a source of instruction, as opposed to a formal education.

   I learned all I need to know from the university of life, not from books.

   • 1922 February, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

     [BEAUFOY:] We are considerably out of pocket over this bally pressman johnny, this jackdaw of Rheims, who has not even been to a university.
     BLOOM: (Indistinctly) University of life.

• school of hard knocks
• university of the streets

• street smarts