Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
midlife crisis (slang)
English answer:
the terrible forties//The "Look-at-me-I'm-driving-a-Ferrari-syndrome" ¶:^)
Added to glossary by
Oso (X)
Apr 19, 2005 20:08
19 yrs ago
3 viewers *
English term
Ian Burley (X)
midlife crisis - slang
English
Art/Literary
Slang
Does anyone out there know of a slang or more colourful term for the male midlife crisis? Not that I'm going through one myself...
Responses
| 3 +1 | the terrible forties |
Oso (X)
|
| 4 +5 | manopause |
humbird
|
| 4 +3 | male menopause |
Angela Arnone
|
| 2 +5 | andropause |
Tony M
|
| 3 +1 | midlife ambush |
Francina
|
| 5 -1 | no |
Ildiko Santana
|
| 2 | second childhood |
Nik-On/Off
|
Change log
Apr 19, 2005 20:26: Marcus Malabad changed "Field" from "Other" to "Art/Literary"
Responses
+1
12 mins
Selected
the terrible forties
Like the "terrible-twos" in childhood.
Just an idea,
Good look from Oso ¶:^)
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Note added at 2005-04-19 20:25:36 (GMT)
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The \"Look-at-me-I\'m-driving-a-Ferrari-syndrome\" ¶;^)
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Note added at 2005-04-19 20:29:23 (GMT)
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Sorry! I meant \"Good luck\" ¶:^D!!!!!
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Note added at 2005-04-20 17:03:56 (GMT)
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\"...Brought back to the present, he said, \"So, tell me about these stages. ***What stage am I in? The terrible forties***?\"
\"I don\'t know yet what stage you\'re in. Claudia told me about the first two and she said she has another one to cover before we get to yours. How she already knows what stage you are in is beyond me. Sometimes I think she reads minds.\"...\"
From: \"Celebrating Men, Satisfying Women\"
Your Source for Understanding Men
at: http://www.celebratingmen.com/keys.htm
Just an idea,
Good look from Oso ¶:^)
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Note added at 2005-04-19 20:25:36 (GMT)
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The \"Look-at-me-I\'m-driving-a-Ferrari-syndrome\" ¶;^)
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Note added at 2005-04-19 20:29:23 (GMT)
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Sorry! I meant \"Good luck\" ¶:^D!!!!!
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Note added at 2005-04-20 17:03:56 (GMT)
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\"...Brought back to the present, he said, \"So, tell me about these stages. ***What stage am I in? The terrible forties***?\"
\"I don\'t know yet what stage you\'re in. Claudia told me about the first two and she said she has another one to cover before we get to yours. How she already knows what stage you are in is beyond me. Sometimes I think she reads minds.\"...\"
From: \"Celebrating Men, Satisfying Women\"
Your Source for Understanding Men
at: http://www.celebratingmen.com/keys.htm
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Your Ferrari idea is excellent. I've tested "the Ferrari syndrome" on a number of friends around me and they all got it right away so I've decided to go ahead and use that"
+3
12 mins
Angela Arnone
Native in English
&
English
Italian by name ... English by nature!
Native in: English 
Works in: Italian to English, English, Italian
male menopause
Declined
I know it's not exactly the same, but you know what I mean ... oh, no, you don't, you're too young!
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Can Altinbay
: My take would be this one.
54 mins
|
| agree |
awilliams
1 hr
|
| agree |
Robert Donahue (X)
1 hr
|
| agree |
Alexandra Tussing
: could be
3 hrs
|
| disagree |
Ildiko Santana
: Sadly, this is not slang. Bad, illogical, but not slang.
11 hrs
|
|
I said it wasn't the same, but it IS used ironically as men cannot have menopause and as Dusty says, a suggestion might suit Ian's purpose or stir his imagination... And I see you were unable to suggest anything so that leaves Ian high and dry!
|
Comment: "Thanks for the input, Angela. And no, I'm not too young - it's happening to a lot of friends around me!"
23 mins
Nik-On/Off
Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine
careful, caring, and perfectionist
Native in: Russian 
, Ukrainian
Works in: English to Russian, Russian to English, Ukrainian to English, and 1 more.
second childhood
Declined
..
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Note added at 59 mins (2005-04-19 21:08:38 GMT)
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\"Midlife crisis\" -- this is often the transitional period for men when they experience what is termed as the \"second childhood\".
http://www.lammd.com/A3R_brief_in_doc_format/2002-No4-Androp...
No matter what you call it — middle age, midlife, or second childhood — something happens to people once they reach their 40s and 50s.
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/87/99620.htm
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Note added at 59 mins (2005-04-19 21:08:38 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
\"Midlife crisis\" -- this is often the transitional period for men when they experience what is termed as the \"second childhood\".
http://www.lammd.com/A3R_brief_in_doc_format/2002-No4-Androp...
No matter what you call it — middle age, midlife, or second childhood — something happens to people once they reach their 40s and 50s.
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/87/99620.htm
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Tony M
: Although often frighteningly apposite (!), I do think this is more usually used to refer to old age...
28 mins
|
|
a couple of references added above for Dusty to read :)
|
Comment: "Sorry, but I agree with Dusty that it more commonly refers to old age"
+5
17 mins
andropause
Declined
Not exactly a slang term, but I've often heard it called this too.
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Note added at 1 hr 15 mins (2005-04-19 21:24:07 GMT)
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I don\'t wish to pick an argument with Nik On-Off, and of course I do agree that \'second childhood\' IS sometimes used for a mid-life crisis (not JUST in men, though!), but I really do feel that its most common, everday connotation is old age rather than middle age. See, for example, the follwoing refs.:
second childhood : Online Dictionary at Datasegment.com
... Webster] Second childhood, the state of being feeble and incapable from old age. ... second childhood n : mental infirmity as a consequence of old age; ...
onlinedictionary.datasegment.com/word/second+childhood
Aging: Another stereotype: old age as a second childhood
Full text of the article, \'Another stereotype: old age as a second childhood\' from Aging, a publication in the field of Health & Fitness, is provided free ...
www.findarticles.com/p/articles/ mi_m1000/is_1984_August-Sept/ai_3368562
A return to infancy: old age and the second childhood in history.
Throughout Western history scholars and writers have characterized old age as a period of a second childhood...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve& db=PubMed&list_uids=1297637&dopt=Abstract - Pages similaires
Thesaurus.com/dotage
... Definition:, old age. Synonyms:, advanced age, age, decrepitude, ... imbecility, infirmity, second childhood, senectitude, senility, weakness ...
thesaurus.reference.com/search?q=dotage
Given the looming proximity of all this in my own case, I think I\'ll just find my slippers and toddle off to bed... ;-)))
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Note added at 1 hr 16 mins (2005-04-19 21:24:57 GMT)
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Oh, and I just found this from OED:
second childhood: the state of childishness incident to old age; dotage.
That\'s me done for, then...!
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Note added at 1 hr 22 mins (2005-04-19 21:31:06 GMT)
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Interstingly, a quick Google suggests the term is perhaps more common here in France than EN-speaking countries; however, do note there is even a website --- probably means it\'s far too mainstream to be slang!
Andropause
Diagnosis, treatment options, faqs and patient resources.
www.andropause.com/
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Note added at 1 hr 15 mins (2005-04-19 21:24:07 GMT)
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I don\'t wish to pick an argument with Nik On-Off, and of course I do agree that \'second childhood\' IS sometimes used for a mid-life crisis (not JUST in men, though!), but I really do feel that its most common, everday connotation is old age rather than middle age. See, for example, the follwoing refs.:
second childhood : Online Dictionary at Datasegment.com
... Webster] Second childhood, the state of being feeble and incapable from old age. ... second childhood n : mental infirmity as a consequence of old age; ...
onlinedictionary.datasegment.com/word/second+childhood
Aging: Another stereotype: old age as a second childhood
Full text of the article, \'Another stereotype: old age as a second childhood\' from Aging, a publication in the field of Health & Fitness, is provided free ...
www.findarticles.com/p/articles/ mi_m1000/is_1984_August-Sept/ai_3368562
A return to infancy: old age and the second childhood in history.
Throughout Western history scholars and writers have characterized old age as a period of a second childhood...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve& db=PubMed&list_uids=1297637&dopt=Abstract - Pages similaires
Thesaurus.com/dotage
... Definition:, old age. Synonyms:, advanced age, age, decrepitude, ... imbecility, infirmity, second childhood, senectitude, senility, weakness ...
thesaurus.reference.com/search?q=dotage
Given the looming proximity of all this in my own case, I think I\'ll just find my slippers and toddle off to bed... ;-)))
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Note added at 1 hr 16 mins (2005-04-19 21:24:57 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Oh, and I just found this from OED:
second childhood: the state of childishness incident to old age; dotage.
That\'s me done for, then...!
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 22 mins (2005-04-19 21:31:06 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Interstingly, a quick Google suggests the term is perhaps more common here in France than EN-speaking countries; however, do note there is even a website --- probably means it\'s far too mainstream to be slang!
Andropause
Diagnosis, treatment options, faqs and patient resources.
www.andropause.com/
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Dr Sue Levy (X)
4 mins
|
|
Thanks, Sue!
|
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| agree |
Attila Piróth
: Agree with the answer as well as your point on second childhood.
1 hr
|
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Thanks, Attila! My own, or in general...? ;-))
|
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| agree |
Charlie Bavington
: Now, now, picking fights is typical mid-life crisis behaviour, in order to prove to yourself you're still fit and virile enough to sire offspring. You wanna be careful, else we'll start calling it "doing a Dusty" :-))
1 hr
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Thanks, CB :-) Moi, VIRILE? --- I think not! And I'm certainly not one to pick fights; so that probably condemns me to an early dotage...
|
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| agree |
mrrobkoc
1 hr
|
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Thanks, Beeboy!
|
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| agree |
marybro
2 hrs
|
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Thanks, Marybro!
|
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| disagree |
Ildiko Santana
: Sorry, it is not slang but a medical term, a pure and neat greek name for the troublesome life period of the age group in question.
11 hrs
|
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Thanks, Ildiko! Of course, I did acknowledge that right from the start; but in the absence of a better term, it might suit Asker's purpose anyway... Have you got a better suggestion of your own...?
|
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| agree |
Paul Dixon
: This is the term I know, but it is not slang.
17 hrs
|
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Cheers, Paul!
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Comment: "Thanks for all the ideas, Dusty, and I'm sorry to have awoken so many demons!"
+1
2 hrs
midlife ambush
Declined
sums it up nicely
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
lucasm (X)
: Cute and evocative, if not exactly true. For a film dialog, I would catch the meaning right away.
14 hrs
|
Comment: "Thanks for the input."
-1
12 hrs
Ildiko Santana
United States
United States
Native in English
&
English
United States
Accurate / Fast / Cheap -- Pick Two
Native in: Hungarian , English
Works in: Hungarian to English, English to Hungarian, English, and 1 more.
English term (edited):
men's midlife crisis - slang
no
Declined
Thanks to extensive research and the suggestions above, I would conclude there is *no* slang expression (yet) for men's midlife crisis.
BTW, has anyone heard a slang term for women's midllife crisis? .....
* Meno means menstruation, menarche, menses, menorrhagia, etc. (from the Greek month);
* Believe it or not, men's menopause is by now a technical term in human medicine (look it up, there's thousands of articles on it worldwide)
* 80% of the human (male) population does *not* believe there is such thing as 'male menopause'! (scary!)
Sorry...
P.S. I LOVE Oso's Ferrari reference. ;D
P.S.S. In my mother tongue, we call it "kapuzárási pánik" = gate-closure panic. ;)
BTW, has anyone heard a slang term for women's midllife crisis? .....
* Meno means menstruation, menarche, menses, menorrhagia, etc. (from the Greek month);
* Believe it or not, men's menopause is by now a technical term in human medicine (look it up, there's thousands of articles on it worldwide)
* 80% of the human (male) population does *not* believe there is such thing as 'male menopause'! (scary!)
Sorry...
P.S. I LOVE Oso's Ferrari reference. ;D
P.S.S. In my mother tongue, we call it "kapuzárási pánik" = gate-closure panic. ;)
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Rafal Korycinski
19 mins
|
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Thanks. You're very brave. :)
|
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| disagree |
lucasm (X)
: Lack of a response is no response. A choice has to be made. I like "gate closure panic", though; it's the same in German, for both sexes.
4 hrs
|
| disagree |
humbird
: I like your references (in *). On the other hand I wonder what role your lecturing about "meno"plays here? All of them sound quite empty here. They're your opinions rather answer. Only thing I agree with you is no, none of answers are outright slang.
20 hrs
|
Comment: "True, the term doesn't exist so one has to be invented and Oso's idea got me there."
+5
26 mins
manopause
Declined
I believe one of the first journalists who gave attention to such thing is Gail Sheehy, the author of "Understanding Men's Passages - Discovering the New Map of Men's Lives".
She invented the term Manopause in this book.
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Note added at 29 mins (2005-04-19 20:38:45 GMT)
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OK, mind you this is in American English context. Moreover it is not a slang per se, but it is not an academic terminology either.
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Note added at 1 day 8 hrs 2 mins (2005-04-21 04:11:28 GMT)
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On second thought, this could be British English as well. Reasons:
Sheehy is quite popular journalist whose books may be read in England just as well (educate me on this fellow Britons!); unlike traditional expressions these newly coined words know no national borders. London\'s fad words can be a common expressions in New York next day.
She invented the term Manopause in this book.
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Note added at 29 mins (2005-04-19 20:38:45 GMT)
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OK, mind you this is in American English context. Moreover it is not a slang per se, but it is not an academic terminology either.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 8 hrs 2 mins (2005-04-21 04:11:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
On second thought, this could be British English as well. Reasons:
Sheehy is quite popular journalist whose books may be read in England just as well (educate me on this fellow Britons!); unlike traditional expressions these newly coined words know no national borders. London\'s fad words can be a common expressions in New York next day.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Tony M
: Well, I can't say I'd heard the term, but I think this is just GREAT!
56 mins
|
|
Thank you, you know very well that journalists are always inventing new terms, just to confuse us.
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| agree |
Robert Donahue (X)
: I'm with Dusty on this. Never heard it before, great term.
1 hr
|
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Thank you, you know very well that ournalists are always inventing new terms, just to confuse us
|
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| agree |
rangepost
: The man who bought a sports car in his late 40's-it was his mid-life chrysler.
2 hrs
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Thank you, you know very well that journalists are always inventing new terms, just to confuse us
|
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| agree |
Alexandra Tussing
3 hrs
|
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Thank you Alexandra, I like this term because it is a good match for "menopause".
|
|
| agree |
Mikhail Kropotov
: cool!
8 hrs
|
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Thank you Mikhail.
|
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| agree |
msherms
: YO!
11 hrs
|
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Thank you msherms.
|
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| disagree |
Ildiko Santana
: Yeah.. as in, Man-Oh-Pause! maybe.. "Mano" means hand... LOL Funny, nevertheless. (And now we know why this question achieved the "possibly offensive" stamp! ;D
11 hrs
|
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This word is nothing to do with hand. Do not cut it up as you are making terrible word analysis. Besides "possible offense" is only in your mind. This term is not my invention. This is coined out by an American journalist.
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Comment: "I really liked your answer (and yes, it would work in British English) but I couldn't give points to you and Oso"
Discussion
Put it this way --- there were more Googles apparently from FR sites; and I only heard the expression once I got here; maybe that's because I arrived in France and midlife crisis at the same time! ;-)
It's only offensive if you're MY age! ;-)))