of a certain age
14
7.2
- idiom
:
de cierta edad
- But why do people, especially people of a certain age, want to be anything?
- women of a certain age
- men of a certain age
- ladies of a certain age
Also, like if you're of a certain age, am I old?
- Also, like if you're of a certain age, am I old?
- I've never met anyone who is of a certain age who's not already dead.
- And I will say that for women of a certain age, we've seen a lot of change.
- When when I see a woman of a certain age, I'm not going to call her an old hag.
- It might be white men writing for white men basically of a certain age.
- And if we know that they're of a certain age, we can then bracket it down even further, correct?
- So, yeah, that that baggage is something I hear a lot from Asian Americans of a certain age and in this industry.
- I don't know if it's like kind of people of a certain age that still love it.
- Yeah, but what a a a straight man of a certain age is going to call it a clicker.
- It just it just struck me because people of a certain age, the ladies, they need these parts.
- They're often times people that have PhDs are of a certain age that they came up when video games weren't a deep part of their life development.
- Ladies, men, if you're of a certain age take the fucking plants off the shelf and put fake ones up there for God's sake.
Examples
-
Muscle and joint aches and pains are very common in gentlemen of a certain age, and osteoarthritis is a common cause.
Academic text (2015) -
It's a social network for eligible women of a certain age.
-
Obviously not meant for women of a certain age.
-
May I add she is a woman of a certain age?
Blog text (26) -
We're two people of a certain age looking for the moment to commit and finding it really hard.
-
Like most happily married women of a certain age, I enjoy being alone from time to time.
Fiction book (1990) -
I'm a woman of a certain age living and loving in Texas.
Blog text (19) -
And I will say that for women of a certain age, we've seen a lot of change.
-
One of his songs, which those of you of a certain age will remember, talks about a lonesome valley:
Blog text (16) -
The retirement community is designed for residents who are of a certain age and looking for a relaxing lifestyle.
Synonyms
133
2.6
A person who is about 45 to 65 years old
1
4.1
A little past middle age for people and slightly out of date for things
1
6.8
An older person who is past middle age
Antonyms
How Old
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal meanings of 'certain' (unspecified) and 'age' (years of life) give a partial clue that the phrase concerns someone’s years, but the euphemistic sense 'no longer young / middle-aged' is a pragmatic, culturally shaped extension rather than a straightforward compositional meaning. A B1 learner who knows the words might infer it relates to age but would likely not reliably recover the tactful idiomatic implication without prior exposure.
Etymology
Of a certain age began as a polite way to avoid saying someone was 'old'. The words certain and age let people speak without giving the exact number, so today the phrase means someone is 'no longer young', often middle-aged.