| 词组 | oldster |
| 释义 | oldster Oldster was coined in the 19th century by analogy with youngster. Early citations typically include both words: • Her eyes would play the Devil with the youngsters before long,—'and the oldsters too ... ,' added the Major —Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, 1848 (OED) And current usage often has oldster and youngster keeping company still: • Are you a youngster hunting around for something more permanent... ? An oldster searching for something less constricting ... ? —Alan Green, Saturday Rev., 26 Feb. 1972 • ... occupy the youngsters so that the oldsters can pursue their own activities —Town & Country, January 1983 But oldster also frequently stands on its own: • ... the hospitality of a delightful oldster —Robert Trumbull, N.Y. Times Book Rev., 21 Sept. 1975 • ... an oldster's recalling his childhood as a "breaking boy" —Judith Crist, Saturday Rev., 5 Mar. 1977 • ... the respect youth feels for the oldsters who brought them their heritage —Ray Walters, N.Y. Times Book Rev., 18 Dec. 1977 Such success as oldster has enjoyed can be attributed in part to the need writers and speakers feel for a word that refers to old people without disparaging connotations. The underlying problem is that the word old itself has such connotations in our culture, so that to call someone an "old man" or an "old woman" is to run the risk of giving offense. However, the use of oldster has remained limited primarily to writing in which the tone is somewhat humorous or jaunty. Usage commentators who have taken note of oldster include Evans 1957, who strongly criticizes it as a term of condescension, and Flesch 1964, who calls it "an ugly invention." It is nonetheless standard within its range of use. |
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