the way of the world

the way of the world
    n 1: the manner in which people typically behave or things
         typically happen; "the ordinary reader is endowed with
         considerable wisdom and knowledge of the way of the world";
         "she was well-versed in the ways of the world before she
         had taken the veil"; "he was amazingly innocent of the ways
         of the world" [syn: {the way of the world}, {the ways of
         the world}]