You could, at one point. C++98 and C++03 were minor updates, meaning C++ had 22 years where learning it wasn't a fast moving target (between C++89 and C++11).

You could, at one point. C++98 and C++03 were minor updates, meaning C++ had 22 years where learning it wasn't a fast moving target (between C++89 and C++11). I would happily call myself an expert in that dialect of C++, but getting there took 5-10 years. I can't call myself a C++ expert anymore, and, in fact, find it hard for anyone to, because with a language so complex, idioms and best practices aren't evolving at the same rate that the standard is changing, especially in cases where one has to deal with a mix of modern C++ and legacy (C++03 and earlier) C++.