Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

true to form
as could be expected judging from somebody's past behavior
True to form, they were exactly twenty minutes late.

Could anyone use it in another sentence?

Thanks

[pugachevV]

This comes from the world of horse racing originally, where every horse in a race has "form". This is merely a block of data concerning past races, times for certain distances, track and weather conditions etc..
A horse that runs true to form would finish in the exact place that its form would lead you to expect.

The idiom means what you suggest, and your sentence is correct.
You can use it any time somebody does something that, for them, is usual behaviour.

e.g. My sister, true to form, brought 3 suitcases full of clothes for a three day trip.

My mother, true to form, was hiding in the basement because of the thunderstorm.

[kerstin]

It's like "true to norm" in a way?

Thanks