⇨ this will separate the men from the boys; this will sort the men from the boysthis task, event, crisis or activity will only be successfully managed by someone of sufficient experience or maturity. The original use, 'this is where the men are separated from the boys' or 'this is where they separate the men from the boys', is attributed to US film actress Mae West, in which case this dates to the late 1930s and is laden with sexual innuendo UK, 1974