"rough around the ages"

[Arnold Zwicky]

Elizabeth Daingerfield Zwicky wrote this morning to suggest that i
check out this expression.  and indeed i got about 30 google hits,
from a variety of sources, among them:

   RnB superstar Alicia Keys can understand why she was labelled a
lesbian at the beginning of her career - because she was " rough
around the ages " .
showhype.com/story/alicia_keys_i_can_understand_lesbian_rumours/

   With Juno, she had so many dimensions to her in that she was this
young, confident girl who’s rough around the ages.
latimesblogs.latimes.com/extendedplay/juno/

   Bit rough around the ages but the staff are friendly and the beer
is resonably priced.
www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/13/13612/Grapes/Pease_Pottage

   More punk than folk, Bragg's forcefully strummed guitar and rough-
around-the- ages vocals (not to mention thick Cockney accent) belie
his keen sense of ...
www.fegmania.org/archives/fegmaniax/2005/v14.n261

   Rough around the ages and with some issues that need dealing with,
but he is mine and I am his and we are two peas in a pod.
streetcar-named.livejournal.com/4063.html

"ages" here could arise from a mishearing, or from hearing a
pronunciation with a raised variant of /E/ before /J/, which could
then be identified as /e/.  i don't see a semantic motivation.

arnold

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