Appendix:Snowclones/you can take X out of Y, but you can't take Y out of X

English

Proverb

you can take X out of Y, but you can't take Y out of X

1. An individual will continue to display the inherent qualities of the place in which they grew up.
   • 1914, Second Junior Annual of The Detroit College of Medicine‎^[1], page 126:

     JOHN JENNINGS WATTS. Dr. Snyder says you can take the boy out of the country, but you cannot take the country out of the boy. Watts has disproved this. Watts came from the wilds of Ontario, but now he introduces the latest fads into the class, and was the first man in school to wear collars with transverse striations.

   • 2018 January 30, David Gianatasio, Adweek‎^[2]:

     You Can Take Britain Out of Europe, but You Can’t Take Europe Out of the British, Says Ancestry.com

   • 2019 March 21, Pooja Salhotra, The Buzz Magazines‎^[3]:

     Friday Night Lights star Janine Turner once said, "You can take the girl out of Texas, but you can't take the Texas out of the girl." ¶ For at least two Texas gals, that statement rings true. ¶ It was only when I left Texas to attend college at Yale that I realized just how Texan I am.

   • 2024, “Stupid (Can't run from the urge”, in Wallsocket (Director's cut), performed by underscores:

     You can take the girl out of this town / But you can't take this town out of the girl / It's the same old world / You can take her to the city / Dress her up and make her pretty / Even she can't run from the urge

Alternative forms

person and place are frequently replaced with more relevant terms; see the quotations.

See also

• the wolf may lose his teeth but never his nature
• the fox may grow grey but never good