gentleman

ronbutters at AOL.COM ronbutters at AOL.COM
Thu Oct 11 15:51:46 UTC 2007


I have often heard young people refer to a person who is a good deal older than the speaker (and, usually, the hearer) as "an older gentleman." The use of "gentleman" rather than "guy" or simply man has always struck me as somewhat patronizing but not ironic. The usage is particularly common (imho) among folks who are describing the sexual (or even just social) advances of an older man who is respectable but no longer young enough to seem sexually attractive to the speaker.
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