Learn English with English, baby!

Join for FREE!

Social_nav_masthead_logged_in
 
of a certain age

简体
of a certain age
青春不再

Date: Mar 21 2013

Quote

1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

Go Super to Listen Go Super!

“It was horrifying because I’m of a certain age and I kept thinking, ‘If I don’t do it right I will drop dead halfway through this and someone else will get the role!’”

- Actress Sally Field on playing the role of Mary Todd Lincoln in the film Lincoln. (US Weekly)

“可怕的是,我已不再年轻,我止不住地想:‘如果我不马上做这件事,我可能会中途死去,其他人将取代我扮演这一角色!”

— 女演员莎莉·菲尔德 (Sally Field) 谈论出演电影《林肯》(Lincoln) 玛丽·托德·林肯 (Mary Todd Lincoln) 一角时的感受。

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

Go Super to Listen Go Super!

old enough that you don’t want to admit your real age

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

Go Super to Listen Go Super!

It’s funny. When you’re a little kid, it’s exciting to get older. But when you actually get older, at some point, you want to stay young. There’s particular pressure on women to continue to appear young, and many products, including skin creams and hair dyes, are marketed to women for this reason.

Because of this pressure to remain youthful, some people stop telling others how old they are at a certain point. Some might lie about their age, like the actress who amazingly has her 35th birthday every year. Others might simply say they are of a certain age. This implies that they are getting older, without being too specific.

Though some might remember Sally Field from when she played the youthful Gidget on TV, she is now significantly older. She’s old enough that she worried about whether she’d stay alive for the shooting of Lincoln. She doesn’t want to say just how old she is, though, so she says she’s of a certain age.

Do you often tell people exactly how old you are? Do you know anyone who has lied about his or her age to appear younger? Is there pressure to appear youthful in your country?

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

Go Super to Listen Go Super!

“She tells everyone she’s 40, but she’s just hiding the fact that she’s of a certain age.”

“Some people think women should stop wearing mini-skirts when they’re of a certain age, but I say if they’ve reached that age they’ve earned the right to wear whatever they want.”

“Don’t ask him how old he is. He’s of a certain age and doesn’t like to discuss it.”

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

Julissita Getting older.
by Julissita
deliayaw feel old or mature enough
by deliayaw
Englishty It means at an old age or not young anymore.
by Englishty
TITO007 polite term for a woman who does not want her actual age known
by TITO007
cubi1604 Getting old
by cubi1604
Ardista not young anymore
by Ardista
DAMAVAND Not young, used to avoid saying middle age or old, especially for girls and women.
by DAMAVAND

Want to guess next week's slang?

The iTEP® test

  • Schedule an iTEP® test and take the official English Practice Test.

    Take Now >

Comments

Log in to Comment

ola33

ola33

Japan

Age is not a problem. Just to be smart, cool, fabulous, fashionable, interesting, different. I think these things  makes women attractive. About the age.., “A woman has the age she deserves”. No matter how old you’re, if you still have a “girl” inside of you, you’re young. ( If you’re into sports, love dancing, love traveling, love walking, love smiling, love life!! – that’s what your blood keeps moving, keeps you alive and makes others happy, then without any fear and shame you can be as old as you want!


;)

Dizelman

DizelmanSuper Member!

Switzerland

From a strictly biological point of view, younger women are more attractive then older women. Red cheeks and puffy lips, thick hair and “baby faces” are all attractive to men from a purely sexual/creating offspring point of view.

So, all beauty products aimed at women focus on emphasising youth and downplaying age. We’re raised in this kind of enviroment and whether we like it or not, beauty is equated to youth in our collective minds. Therefore, advanced age becomes something to be ashamed of and cannot be revealed, because it reduces our biological chances of reproduction.


In ancient greek society it was common for women to hide their age so that men would have to check their teeth to ascertain the age. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work nowadays. Personaly, I would have women wear age tags, much like name tags, so as they would’t lie anymore. Yup yup!

09:18 PM Mar 20 2013 |

Likes (18):

See all >

Share this lesson:

  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Bebo
  • Share on Myspace
  • Share on Twitter
  • Email this to a friend
  • Share on Sina

Post Ebaby! lessons on your blog:

Ebaby! Cast