Someone in their 70s is septuagenarian, someone in their 80s is an octogenarian, and someone in their 90s is a nonagenarian. Someone in their 50s is a quinquagenarian, and if they’re in their 40s, they’re a quadragenarian. If they’re between 100 and 110, they’re a centenarian, and older than that, well, congratulations! In that case they’re a supercentenarian. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Names of Age Decades for Old People”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.
I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette.
If a person is in their 80s, we call them an octogenarian. What do we call them if they’re in their 90s? Your Honor? I don’t know. We call that person a nonagenarian.
Nonagenarian, right. If they’re in their 70s, they’re a septagenarian. You know what they call people in their 60s? A sexigenarian.
Yeah, with an A, sexagenarian, right. What about a person in their 50s? There is a term for this. It’s not used very often, sometimes in medical texts. I don’t know, actually. Cinquantinarian, I don’t know.
That’s close. It’s quinquagenarian. Quinquagenarian. Quinquagenarian. And someone in their 40s? The new 20s.
Exactly, right? I’m in my 40s. Exactly. And wherever I am is the right age to be. That’s how we feel, right? Well, someone in their 40s is a quadrigenarian.
Quadrigenarian. These are great. Of course there had to be terms for all these, right? Right, right. We only think about the teen ones and the toddler years. But after that, if you work in demographics, you probably know these.
Right. Or marketing. It’s a shorthand way to say that. 100 is centenarian. Right. We don’t need terms much more than that.
No, not much more. Although there are super centenarians. Super centenarians. What does that mean? It means over 110.
Over 110. 110 or older. Wow, super centenarians. Yeah, how about that? But you mentioned people in their teens, and I will share the word for that later in the show.
Ooh, something to look forward to. There is actually a lot to look forward to. We take calls from all around the country, including you, about language and things having to do with how we talk and slang and new words and writing well and literature and poetry and word puzzles.
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