gentleman

[ronbutters at AOL.COM]

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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