Yesterday was my birthday and a special one it was too, I’m thirty years old now. (insert smilie with lots of wrinkles)
We have a lot of nice expressions in Dutch for people who enter a new decade of their life. E.g. I can say that I now have ‘a new front door’, or that I have ‘boarded tramway nr. 3’.
Are there any similar expressions for this in English?
I’ve not heard of any phrases for reaching certain ages except for the following:
Teenager (upon turning 13 - until age 20)
Sweet 16 - usually reserved for girls ;)
Legal Age - depending on the subject. The legal drinking age varies by State here, so it could be anywhere from 18 to 21. Legal to vote is at age 18. Age of sexual consent is, I think, considered to be 18 as well.
ThirtySomething - from a popular TV show in the 80s
Over the Hill - some say this is at age 40. I think it is entirely subjective. I know people who seem old at age 30 (or less), and I know people still going very strong at age 70 or 80. A friend of mine hiked the Appalachian Trail last year at age 65. He may be over a hill, but you can bet he’s soon climbing the next one. ;)
There may be others that I’m forgetting (and I’m not even Over the Hill yet at age 38 :o).
There are the golden years. I’m not exactly sure when they are except that you have make it over the hill first.
Tim and I have been coming to terms with the fact that we are {gulp} middle-aged. Technically, I think it could be argued that one isn’t middle aged until about 40 because people are living so much longer. However, given the various aches and pains (and wrinkles - Katy, we are TRYING the gaining weight approach, but we don’t seem to be able to gain enough to fill in all of the lines!) we have been discovering, for us, 35 may count.
And there are the "terrible twos" which the more pc parents of newborns will refer to as the "terrific twos". Those of us with several kids know better. I have a very prococious 23 month old right now who I would like to thrust on a few pc parents… let THEM try to convince her that wearing pajamas to church is just not the done thing! I love her dearly, but a naked child running out of the house, throwing off her clothes, and screaming "NO!" as she desparately holds her ratty and breakfast-stained pajamas to her bare bosom doesn’t strike me as "terrific". THAT is another way that I know I am middle aged.
Hmmmm…. I’m sure there are others. I’ll think about it some more.
I think, for me, I will consider 50 "middle-aged". Until then, you walk a fine line—people either think you’re acting your age or you’re acting like a d*** fool. Or at least it seems so to me.
I’m probably in for trouble, because I have a devil of a time acting my age.
Humph. Tim is making me look bad! He told ME that he thought 35 was middle aged, and now that PW is ready to go to blows over it, he has modified his thoughts! He explained to me that while middle aged is 50, we can, while still 35, FEEL middle aged.
So, after thinking it over, I have decided that there is no reason at all to be pessimistic. Middle aged is 75. The fact that we get winded running to the mail box is not an indication of age, just an indication of lifestyle… a lifestyle that will render us dead and middle aged at the same time!
Ha ha. I’m of a mind to agree with you, Shannon. Let’s pretend, at least. Honestly, I’ve never felt older than I did in my 30’s. Perhaps it was having young kids, I don’t know. What I DO know is that it gets much better later.
[quote author=Palewriter link=board=idiom;num=1069408650;start=0#9 date=11/23/03 at 01:00:54]
Ha ha. I’m of a mind to agree with you, Shannon. Let’s pretend, at least. Honestly, I’ve never felt older than I did in my 30’s. Perhaps it was having young kids, I don’t know. What I DO know is that it gets much better later.
- PW
Young kids… that is what Tim and I keep telling ourselves. How is that evolution rendered tired children absolutely sparking with energy, and tired parents sparking with temper? Shouldn’t that particular human trait have been killed off eons ago? ;)
Shouldn’t that particular human trait have been killed off eons ago?
Probably. In evolutionary terms, though, once the [s]little buggers[/s] little angels are raised, the grumpy parents have done their bit and can kick the bucket.
Of course, these days, many kids continue to mooch off of their parents for years. I’ve heard today’s 20-year-olds called "the boomerang generation", because they keep coming back.
Re: the "boomerang generation"—I heard Bill Moyers yesterday saying that, adjusted for inflation, the real earning power of the current generation is back to where we were in 1973.
That was supposed to be a startling statistic. To me, that still sounds wrong.
My dad, with nary a college degree, gained a position at a chemical processing plant back in 1965 (or was it 1966). At any rate, my mom was already pregnant with their first child before my dad was hired, so they didn’t have health insurance coverage for the pregnancy/delivery. On his salary, however, my dad was not only able to get a new car, pay rent, and buy all the groceries they needed, but he was also able to save up enough to pay for the hospital and doctor bills in their entirety.
This was before skyrocketing health insurance costs, to be sure, but still it sounds unbelievable to me. I don’t think anyone could get a job without a college degree that could pay for all that today.
This doesn’t surprise me in the least, Tim. Plus, it was predominantly a cash society back then, too. About the only credit card you could find was Diners’ Club, and only fat cat business peeps used that.
An unusual concept, I know, but back then, if we wanted something (like a new car), we saved up for it. :-)
I still detest credit cards and use them exclusively for hotel bookings, online purchases, etc. Interestingly, I did lunch with a dozen or so folks from my office the other day. When it came time to pay, I was the only one in the crowd with cash. Everyone else had plastic.
[quote author=KatyBr link=board=idiom;num=1069408650;start=15#16 date=11/24/03 at 18:30:09]the plastic cash folks are ones who never knew a bank failure, nor heard a parent talk of one.
Katy
prefers cash, so I can never be overdrawn. the debit card for long distance purchasing.
I daresay you and I are relics. So much money is virtual in nature these days. Perhaps that’s why so many people are virtually up to their eyeballs in debt.
[quote author=KatyBr link=board=idiom;num=1069408650;start=15#16 date=11/24/03 at 18:30:09]the plastic cash folks are ones who never knew a bank failure, nor heard a parent talk of one.
Katy
prefers cash, so I can never be overdrawn. the debit card for long distance purchasing.
Katy, you are a financially savvy woman! I am very careful about not brainwashing my kids on most things, most of the time. However, I have decided that brainwashing techniques are both useful and ethical in regard to financial training. Both of my boys have been taught, when asked the question, "Would you like to apply for this wonderful credit card?" to say, "No, thank you. I am going back to my room to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." If you say, "But wait, it comes with a free Nintendo, a great dorm room refrigerator, and 110% cash back on every purchase!", they reply, in unison (like little brainwashed zombies) "No, thank you. I’m going back to my room to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." This is my training for when they are freshmen in college. They are 7 and 5, but I think for brainwashing to stand up to teenage rebellion, the stupidity of youth, and the wiles of professional salesmen, we need to start young and reinforce frequently. We have also explained that there are very rare instances in which a credit card CAN be ok, but those are very few, and will never happen before they have full time jobs, 401Ks, a savings account and a balanced checkbook.
~Shannon, who wishes from the bottom of her heart that she and Tim had eaten far more PB&J’s and applied for far less credit!
Ah, you’ve touched on the very key to a good night’s sleep.
Unfortunately, your recipe for the kids, though totally laudable, may hamper them if and when they DO want to apply for a loan or mortgage. The infernal credit card companies look at credit ratings, not money in the bank, when they decide credit-worthiness. That means having a credit card and dutifully making the payments for X months/years. I had the devil of a time building up my credit here in the US, despite being debt-free and having an outrageous income. I simply hadn’t borrowed enough to establish any record. :\
I have an aunt and uncle who had never borrowed any money and went to buy a car. They decided to finance it and were turned down. This was about 25 years ago, but I am certain they were very well off… they are multi-millionaires now. They went to Sears and applied for a Sears card and bought a toaster. They paid it off the next month and then went back to the car dealer and financed the car.
I think that this particular credit problem, provided that you are not credit-less and destitute, would be a wonderful problem to have! I suspect that it is much easier to remedy than most other problems. As a mom, I rank this sort of financial problem in the same category as a child who is labled a picky eater because they won’t eat a Twinkie or Fruit Loops because they don’t really look like food!
Also, part of my willingness to brainwash in this area is a close look at the financial stability of most of the people to whom my children are related. There are some children who, based on their ancestry, should never have the first taste of alcohol, and some children who are better off never tasting credit.
I agree completely, Shannon. Better to err on the side of "I got cash" than to falter on the side of "I got credit." That’s my story, anyhow. I’m just amazed at the bizarre behavior of the lenders. :-)
