Age related lesson! :さばを読む ( = saba wo yomu)

「マギー先生、いくつ？」

= Maggie sensei, ikutsu?

= How old are you, Maggie Sensei?

「２才！」

= Nisai!

=Two years old!

Hi, everyone!

Yesterday, September 20th was my birthday! Many people sent me nice messages, saying,

「お誕生日おめでとう！」

=Otanjoubi omedetou!

=Happy Birthday!!

 

Now, some “brave” person asked me,

「マギー先生、いくつ？」

= Maggie sensei ikutsu? (very casual)

= How old are you, Maggie Sensei?

(Don’t ask ladies their age!)

And I answered,

「２才！」

= Nisai!

=Two years old!

Shhhhhh!!! 🤫 Don’t tell anybody but I’m actually 5 years old now.

So today’s key idiom is,

⭐️さばを読む = saba wo yomu.

•鯖 = さば =サバ = chub mackerel

•読む = yomu = to read

It is an idiom that means

to fudge a number or numbers or fudge one’s age./to lie about one’s age.

Ex. マギーはさばを読んでいる。

= Maggie wa saba wo yonde iru.

= Maggie is fudging her age. / Maggie is lying about her age.

OK, let’s study lots of age related expressions and words today!

Reaching a certain age,

•〜才（歳）になる = ~ sai ni naru = will be /turn/reach~ years old

•〜才（歳）になった = ~ sai ni natta= to have turned/reached ~ years old

“How old are you?“ ,

 

• 「何歳(才）ですか？」

= Nansai desuka?

•「(お年は)おいくつですか？」

= (Otoshi wa) oikutsu desuka?

 

•「(年) いくつ？ 」(Very casual)

= (Toshi) ikutsu?

You can answer,

Ex.「(今）２５歳（才）です。」

= (Ima) Nijuu go (sai) desu.

=I’m 25 (years old) (now).

Ex.「１０月で１８歳(才）になります。」

= Juugatsu de juuhassai ni narimasu.

=I will be 18 years old in October.

Ex. 「今年、２０歳（才）になりました。」

= Kotoshi hatachi (nijussai) ni narimashita.

= I turned 20 (years old) this year.

(Remember, ２０歳  20 years old can be read either にじっさい ( = nijissai), にじゅっさい ( = nijussai) or はたち (  = hatachi) )

:k: Age,

*歳 / 年 = toshi = age, years

*年齢 / 年令 = nenrei = age

:n: Young and old,

*若い = wakai = young

→adverb 若く= wakaku = young

Ex.いつまでも若くいて下さい。

=Itsumademo wakaku ite kudasai.

=Please stay young forever!

→noun 若さ = wakasa =youth

Ex. 若さを保つ

= Wakasa wo tamotsu

= to preserve youth

Ex. 若さの秘密は何ですか？

= Wakasa no himitsu wa nan dedsuka?

=What is your secret to keeping young?

→people 若者 = wakamono = young people

Ex. 最近の若者は礼儀を知らない。

= Saikin no wakamono wa reigi wo shiranai.

= Young people these days don’t have manners.

*中年 = chuunen = middle-aged people

→adjective 中年の = chuunen no

*中高年 = chuukounen = middle-aged and elderly people

→adjective 中高年の = chuukounen no

*(お)年寄り = (o)toshiyori = elderly people

→adjective •お年寄りの ( = otoshiyori no)

•老いた ( = oita)

•年を取った ( = toshi wo tottta)

*高齢者 = koureisha = elderly people

Older than 75 yeas old we call 後期高齢者  ( = kouki koureisha)  (This is not an expression you would use in daily conversation. You’ll most often hear this when discussing insurance brackets or in official discussions.)

*老人 = roujin = old people

“The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway → “老人と海”（ = roujin to umi)

*(ご)年配 (者）= (go)nenpai(sha)= elderly  people

•ご年配の方 = gonenpai no kata (sound a bit more polite)

→方々 ( = katagata)

*シルバー = shirubaa = (from silver): to refer to elderly people.

Ex. シルバーシート = shirubaa shiito =seats for the elderly and/or the disabled

Ex. シルバーエイジ = shirubaa eiji=old age

Note : When you talk about elder people, 年寄り ( = toshiyori) and 老人 ( = roujin) sound very cold and rude.

And a lot of aged people hated to be called “old” and treated as an old person.

Ex. 年寄り扱いしないで欲しい！

=Toshiyori atsukai shinai de hoshii!

=I don’t want you to treat me like an old person.

We should treat them with respect.

They are our 人生の先輩 ( =  jinsei no senpai) . (先輩 = senpai = seniors, elders, mentors. In this case, mentors of life.)

⭐️ aging, to get old(er)

歳(年）を取る = toshi wo toru

Ex. 年を取るにつれ涙もろくなってきた。

= Toshi wo toru ni tsure namida moroku natte kita.

= As I get older I have become more sentimental.

歳(年）を重ねる = toshi wo kasaneru

Ex. 歳を重ねると何事にも動じなくなる。

= Toshi wo kasaneru to nanigoto nimo doujinaku naru.

= The older you get,  you get more immune you get to everything.

老いる = oiru　or 年老いる = toshioiru

Ex. (年)老いた母 = (toshi)oita haha= aged mother

年(歳）( = toshi) means age but it also means “getting old” or “aging”

Ex. うちの父も、もう年（歳）だから労ってあげないと。

= Uchi no chichi mo, mou toshi dakara itawatte agenaito.

= My father is getting older so we have to take care of him.

⭐️ Other age-related words,

•若作りをする = wakazukuri wo suru = make oneself look young

Ex. 彼女は若作りをしているから本当の年がわからない。

= Kanojo wa wakazukuri wo shiteiru kara hontou no toshi ga wakaranai.

= She has made herself look young so nobody can tell her real age.

•若返る = wakagaeru = to rejuvenate

Ex. 若返りの薬が欲しい！

= Wakagaeri no kusuri ga hoshii!

= I wanna rejuvenation pills!

•年を取らない = toshi wo toranai = ageless, stay young

Ex. 彼は全然、年を取らない。

= Kare wa zenzen toshi wo toranai.

= He stays young. / He never seems to get old.

•老ける = fukeru = put on years

Ex. 最近、父は、めっきり老けてきた。

= Saikin chichi wa, mekkiri fukete kita.

= Recently my father has got older noticeably.

•老化 = rouka =growing old, process of aging

Ex. 適度な運動は老化を遅らせる

= Tekido na undou wa rouka wo okuraseru

= Proper exercise delays the process of growing old.

• 若くみえる = wakaku mieru = look younger

• 老けてみえる = fukete mieru = look older

Ex. マギーは年齢よりも若く(or 老けて）見える。

= Maggie wa nenrei yori mo wakaku (or fukete)  mieru.

= Maggie looks younger (or older)  than her age.

🐶 Did you like my birthday cake? It is Hello Kitty cheesecake!

I loooove kitties! ❤️ Yum! Yum!!! :)

 

 

 マギー先生より=Maggie Sensei yori=From Maggie Sensei

はい、本当は５才になりました！

= Hai hontou wa gosai ni narimashita.

= Yes, I  actually just turned five years old.

人間だったらいくつなんて計算しないでね！

= Ningen dattara ikutu nante keisan shinaidene.

= Don’t even try to calculate my age in human age!

 

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