"getting the basics wrong" ... especially when you should know the answer
Expecting to be able to buy tickets "on-the-door" when U2 are coming to play in the Village Hall that night... to discover that all 250 were sold out months ago...
Schoolboy Error: (n.), (der. old English), A mistake, often trivial, clumsy, dimwitted or easily avoided. Generally shameful in hindsight, but without cause for embarassment, owing more to circumstances or instantaneous bad luck, rather than serious incompetence of behalf of the maker. Derived from the "trial and error" psychology present in Victorian-era English public schools.
Upon dropping the soap in the Violent Offenders' Wing of Barwon Prison, Eric cursed his schoolboy error.
Dr. Feynmann lowered his glasses as the fruit of twenty minutes labour yielded an unwanted result: E = mc^2/0. "Well fuck me", he said, turning to the class. "I seem to have made a schoolboy error."
The most basic of errors. An error so simple, and avoidable, that anyone with an ounce of credibility or experience in that field should not be commiting it. A mistake that should only be made by schoolboys still in training for that particular task. Especially used when referring to playing games of pool in pubs, or occasionally during snooker. Schoolboy error can be heard ringing out by jeering onlookers if for instance a participant missed a sitter = he should have potted it as it as so simple, that thereforehe is reduced to the level of a lowly school boy playing his dad for the first time.
And here comes Keane for the winner....Oooooooh and he's missed, and left the black right over the pocket for Swann to tap in...
Schoolboy error!
Nickname given to bales of marijuana thrown overboard or out of airplanes. Origin is reportedly from members of the US Coast Guard in the area of Southern Florida.
A sunburn or suntan focused on the left arm. It is caused by the left side of the body being the only half that gets exposed to sunlight while driving. Presumably, it would be located on the right side of the body in countries where they drive on the left side of the road.
I had a trucker's tan after driving for 10 straight hours on a sunny day.
British slang for a scientist or technical expert, esp . when the speaker is not certain of the expert’s specific field of study. Not necessarily derogatory, but typically used by persons without a technical background. In the US, the equivalent would be “egghead”, “squint”, or “geek.”
Origin of the word is unknown. Started sometime in World War 2. Given the typical evolution of British slang, could easily have started because what these experts did was confusing or “baffling” to the common person.