midlife crisis - slang

English translation: the terrible forties//The "Look-at-me-I'm-driving-a-Ferrari-syndrome" ¶:^)

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	midlife crisis (slang)
Selected answer:	the terrible forties//The "Look-at-me-I'm-driving-a-Ferrari-syndrome" ¶:^)
Entered by:	Oso (X)

20:08 Apr 19, 2005

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Slang

English term or phrase: midlife crisis - 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...

Ian Burley (X) KudoZ activity Questions: 7 (none open) Answers: 159
Local time: 11:37

the terrible forties

Explanation:
Like the "terrible-twos" in childhood.
Just an idea,
Good look from Oso ¶:^)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2005-04-19 20:25:36 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The \"Look-at-me-I\'m-driving-a-Ferrari-syndrome\" ¶;^)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2005-04-19 20:29:23 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sorry! I meant \"Good luck\" ¶:^D!!!!!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2005-04-20 17:03:56 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

\"...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

Selected response from:

Oso (X)

Grading 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
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +5

manopause

humbird

4 +3

male menopause

Angela Arnone

2 +5

andropause

Tony M

3 +1

the terrible forties

Oso (X)

3 +1

midlife ambush

Francina

5 -1

Ildiko Santana

second childhood

Nik-On/Off

Discussion entries: 7

Answers

12 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

male menopause

Explanation:
I know it's not exactly the same, but you know what I mean ... oh, no, you don't, you're too young!

Angela Arnone
Local time: 11:37
Native speaker of:

English

Grading comment

Thanks for the input, Angela. And no, I'm not too young - it's happening to a lot of friends around me!

The asker has declined this answer
Comment: Thanks for the input, Angela. And no, I'm not too young - it's happening to a lot of friends around me!

12 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

the terrible forties

Oso (X)
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 12

Grading 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

23 mins confidence:

second childhood

Explanation:
..

--------------------------------------------------
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

Nik-On/Off
Ukraine
Local time: 12:37
Native speaker of:

Russian,

Ukrainian

Grading comment

Sorry, but I agree with Dusty that it more commonly refers to old age

The asker has declined this answer
Comment: Sorry, but I agree with Dusty that it more commonly refers to old age

17 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

andropause

Explanation:
Not exactly a slang term, but I've often heard it called this too.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 15 mins (2005-04-19 21:24:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

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... ;-)))

--------------------------------------------------
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/

Tony M
France
Local time: 11:37
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 20

Grading comment

Thanks for all the ideas, Dusty, and I'm sorry to have awoken so many demons!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Dr Sue Levy (X)

4 mins

-> Thanks, Sue!

agree

Attila Piróth: Agree with the answer as well as your point on second childhood.

1 hr

-> Thanks, Attila! My own, or in general...? ;-))

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

-> 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...

agree

mrrobkoc

1 hr

-> Thanks, Beeboy!

agree

marybro

2 hrs

-> Thanks, Marybro!

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

-> 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...?

agree

Paul Dixon: This is the term I know, but it is not slang.

17 hrs

-> Cheers, Paul!

The asker has declined this answer
Comment: Thanks for all the ideas, Dusty, and I'm sorry to have awoken so many demons!

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

midlife ambush

Explanation:
sums it up nicely

Reference: http://mensightmagazine.com/columns/thoughts/thoughts10.htm

Francina
United States
Local time: 05:37
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English,

Dutch

Grading comment

Thanks for the input.

The asker has declined this answer
Comment: Thanks for the input.

12 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): -1

men's midlife crisis - slang no

Explanation:
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. ;)

Ildiko Santana
United States
Local time: 02:37
Native speaker of:

Hungarian,

English

Grading comment

True, the term doesn't exist so one has to be invented and Oso's idea got me there.

The asker has declined this answer
Comment: True, the term doesn't exist so one has to be invented and Oso's idea got me there.

26 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

manopause

Explanation:
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.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 29 mins (2005-04-19 20:38:45 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

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.

humbird
Native speaker of:

Japanese,

English

Grading comment

I really liked your answer (and yes, it would work in British English) but I couldn't give points to you and Oso

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

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.

agree

Robert Donahue (X): I'm with Dusty on this. Never heard it before, great term.

1 hr

-> Thank you, you know very well that ournalists are always inventing new terms, just to confuse us

agree

rangepost: The man who bought a sports car in his late 40's-it was his mid-life chrysler.

2 hrs

-> Thank you, you know very well that journalists are always inventing new terms, just to confuse us

agree

Alexandra Tussing

3 hrs

-> Thank you Alexandra, I like this term because it is a good match for "menopause".

agree

Mikhail Kropotov: cool!

8 hrs

-> Thank you Mikhail.

agree

msherms: YO!

11 hrs

-> Thank you msherms.

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

-> 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.

The asker has declined this answer
Comment: I really liked your answer (and yes, it would work in British English) but I couldn't give points to you and Oso

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations

midlife crisis - slang

English translation: the terrible forties//The "Look-at-me-I'm-driving-a-Ferrari-syndrome" ¶:^)

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

Your current localization setting

Select a language

midlife crisis - slang

English translation: the terrible forties//The "Look-at-me-I'm-driving-a-Ferrari-syndrome" ¶:^)

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

You have native languages that can be verified

Your current localization setting

Select a language