Expressions with ‘Senior’ and ‘Age’!
A senior citizen
= a polite term used to refer to older people; usually it means anyone over the age of 65.
A senior moment
= when you do something, like forget where you put the car keys or temporarily forget the name of a friend or family member, that suggests you are getting old!
I had a senior moment. I walked around the parking lot for 15 minutes trying to remember where I parked my car!
10/20/etc. years one’s senior
= _____ years older than someone
Have you seen Holly’s new boyfriend? He’s 20 years her senior! He must be rich.
ripe old age
= someone who is old, but is doing something that someone much younger usually does; a positive expression
At the ripe old age of 89, she still drives herself around town!
in this day and age
= nowadays, at the present time
In this day and age it’s rare to see someone using a typewriter!
A woman of a certain age
= a pleasant way of saying a woman who is not young anymore!
Women of a certain age should not wear a bikini.
to come of age
= originally this was used to describe the time period when someone leaves their childhood behind and becomes an adult, but it is now also used to say something has ‘become fully formed’
The Baby Boomers came of age during a time of great changes in society.
He came of age as an actor when he moved to New York and had his first role in a Broadway play.
The neighbourhood came of age when the car factory opened up. It brought jobs and life to the area!
*You may hear this a lot in American TV shows and movies. Often the TV show or movies is described as “a coming-of-age story” where the young main character has an experience that matures him/her into an adult.
‘Stand By Me’ was such a great coming-of-age movie.
Expressions with ‘Baby’!
The listening lesson “Baby Gifts” was about a gift I bought for my friend’s new baby! Let’s take a look at some English expressions with ‘baby’!
to have a baby/to expect a baby
When I talked about my friend in the listening lesson, I said…
My oldest friend in the world just had her first baby!
Did you notice I used the verb have? When a woman is pregnant, you say she is having a baby, OR she is expecting a baby.
Baby Boomers
A ‘baby boom’ is a large number of babies born at a particular time. You may have heard or seen the expression ‘Baby Boomers’ in American movies or books. ‘Baby Boomers’ are a demographic: people who were born after the Second World War (during the years 1945-1965). Soldiers returned home from the war and started making families! Because of the large number of them, baby boomers have had an incredible impact on American life.
Baby steps
Because babies are small, they take very small steps and move slowly (when they are learning how to walk). If you take ‘baby steps,’ you are doing something very slowly and carefully, and in small pieces.
Baby steps to financial preparation (The Globe & Mail)
Baby steps on medical e-records already saving money: study (National Post)
Cuban-American relations: Baby Steps (The Economist)
A designer baby
This is a new phenomenon. Because of advances in medical technology and ‘genetic engineering’, parents can ‘design’ the perfect baby instead of leaving it up to nature. They can choose the sex of their baby, the hair colour, the eye colour, or other things.
A baby shower
This is a party thrown for a woman expecting a baby! Her friends and family give her gifts, all the things that she will need for the baby.
…as soft/smooth as a baby’s bottom
This is a common simile: newborn babies have very soft skin, so when people want to describe how soft something is, they compare it to a baby’s bottom (*bottom is polite way of saying ‘bum’!)
…like taking candy from a baby
= something is very easy
This is another common simile. It’s very easy to take something away from a baby. A baby might cry, but it can’t fight you or come after you!
Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water!
= when you get rid of something you don’t want, be careful not to get rid of something you do want
= don’t throw out good stuff with the bad stuff
Don’t sell your car just because you don’t like the stereo in it. You’ll be throwing out the baby with the bath water. Buy a new stereo!
Just because you don’t like her appearance doesn’t mean you shouldn’t listen to what she has to say. Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water.
Vocabulary – The Stages of Life!
a preemie
= a preemie is baby that is born ‘prematurely’ – before it has completely developed in the mother’s womb. Generally it takes 37 weeks/9 months for a baby to fully develop, so if a baby is born before 37 weeks/9 months, it’s considered a preemie.
a newborn
= a baby that was just born; this term is usually used for the first 4 weeks of life.
an infant / a baby
= the first year of life (from birth to 1 year old); an infant is a baby who has not started talking or walking yet and who needs constant care.
a toddler
= a child who is learning to walk; the 2nd year of life (generally between 12 months and 2 or 3 years old)
a child
There is no set age definition of ‘a child’; ‘childhood’ can be both the time before someone becomes a teenager and the time before someone become an adult. Most of the time, it refers to someone younger than a teenager.
pre-teen / tween
= around 10–12 years old; a child who has not yet reached the ‘teenage’ years. ‘Tween’ is short for ‘in between’!
a teenager
= someone who is 13–19 years old (any number with ‘teen’ in it!)
an adolescent
= a formal term for the teenage years; someone who is becoming an adult.
a young adult
This is hard to define! Generally someone becomes an ‘adult’ at the age of 18, but nowadays people are taking longer to mature into the adult years! A young adult could be anyone over the age of 18 but before ‘middle age.’ Most of the time a young adult is someone between the ages of 18 and 24.
middle-aged / over the hill (adjectives)
Since people are living longer, ‘middle age’ is changing. Generally, ‘middle–aged’ is the term for someone in the middle of their life, around 40–50 years old. “Over the hill” is a humorous (sometimes insulting) way of saying someone is old!
a senior citizen
= a polite way of saying ‘an old person’! The age at which someone becomes a ‘senior citizen’ can vary from country to country: it could be 55 years old, or it could be 65 years old!
elderly (adjective)
= a polite way of saying that someone is very old!
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