Aging - American Culture - Learn vocabulary. New idioms!

Language Notes

Topic 12: Aging

The funny thing about making videos

is that as the years go by

you get to see me age on camera.

I'd like to pretend that I'm not getting older,

but the truth is that we're all aging.

In this video we're going to talk about

some of the more visible signs of aging.

And I hope that after this,

you will continue to be kind to me

and not tell me how much I'm getting older,

but how young I still look.

Let's begin by making sure

you know how to use the word "age."

You first learn this word as a noun,

as in..."At what age do most children learn to talk?"

or..."What is the voting age in the U.S.?"

"Age" can also function as a verb.

This verb can be intransitive,

meaning it takes no object.

An example:

"It seems like you haven't aged at all!"

"Age" as a verb can also be transitive;

it can take an object.

An experience can age someone.

For example,

war ages people like no other experience.

"Age" as a verb is less common.

It can sound more formal and more bookish.

If I say,

"As we age, we grow wiser."

It sounds more formal compared to:

As we grow older, we become wiser."

If we add -ING to the word "age,"

we form a gerund.

Gerunds behave as nouns.

In this video,

we're going to talk about the signs of aging.

There are many different signs of aging.

Some are more noticeable than others.

I'll focus on these,

the more visible signs of getting older.

The first: wrinkles.

"Wrinkles" are lines in the skin.

Not all wrinkles are bad to have.

In fact, we can talk about laugh lines.

Laugh lines are wrinkles that show someone

has been happy. Someone has been smiling a lot in life.

You see these wrinkles around the eyes, around the mouth (mostly the mouth).

But some wrinkles...many women try to hide.

There are wrinkles right around the eyes

called "crow's feet."

They form like a little V around the eyes,

especially when we smile.

These crow's feet...we like to hide with make-up.

Laugh lines, crow's feet...

sagging skin.

As you grow older,

your skin is less firm,

and it begins to drop.

We say it "sags."

Sagging skin? - Not a very nice sign of aging.

People can get bags under the eyes,

and the skin can sag on the neck.

And people can have what's called a "turkey neck."

Crow's feet, turkey neck...

You see that some of our terms refer to animals.

All right.

Another sign -- age spots.

Oh, I don't like these.

Age spots are dark spots that form

on the face or the hands, arms, or legs.

Age spots.

Some people as they grow older are fortunate

to have all of their hair.

But many of us tend to lose our hair.

It grows thin.

So a sign of aging is hair loss.

Men in particular experience a receding hair line.

The hair lines moves back.

A receding hair line.

And eventually a man can go bald.

Women, too, but usually men are the ones

who go bald.

All people as they age eventually get gray hair.

I've had some unfortunately.

Soon I'll have to start dying my hair to hide all the gray.

But having gray hair or going gray, turning gray

is a sign of aging.

I may not like to admit it,

but I'm certainly not a young adult anymore.

I'm headed towards middle age.

In fact, some people might say

I'm already there.

"Middle age" generally refers to late 40s to early 60s.

I would prefer that you not talk about middle age to me.

You could say, as my cousins do,

"Jennifer, you're getting up there."

I'm not old, but I'm no spring chicken.

"No spring chicken" is a funny expression we have

to say "not young anymore."

Well, he's not an old man,

but he's no spring chicken."

No spring chicken.

When someone is quite old,

we say they're "over the hill."

But be careful with this expression.

It could be used in joking,

but if you're not joking, it sounds rude.

When you say someone is over the hill,

like, they're in their final years

and pretty much their life is done.

So it would be more respectful

to use another expression.

You could say that a man or a woman

is getting on in years.

Also, be careful with the word "old."

It could sound not as respectful

as you need to be.

You can talk about an old man or old woman,

but it would be much more respectful

to talk about an elderly man or an elderly woman.

Let's end on a positive note.

I'll teach you a few compliments

that you can pay to others.

You can tell a woman

that she ages like a fine wine.

And you can tell a friend

that you haven't seen in long time,

"You haven't changed a bit."

"You haven't aged at all!"

And to your special loved one,

who is getting up there,

tell him or tell her,

"You still look like you're 30."

On that we'll end.

Thanks for watching.

Happy studies!