Learn English – Does “49er” mean “A 49-year-old man”

meaningslang

Is it right to say "I was talking to a 49er" to aim that "I was talking to a 49-year-old man"?

I know that it's meaningless to say it, but my question is:

"Is (age)er = (age)-year-old man"?

Best Answer

No. Referring to a forty-nine-year-old man as a "49er" is not idiomatic in either American or British usage. The more idiomatic expression would be "49-year-old," as in:

I was talking to a 49-year-old.

"49er" or "forty-niner" is an English word, but it has nothing to do with age. It refers to one of a wave of gold prospectors who traveled to the American West, and especially California, in 1849. So, for example, the first verse of the song "Clementine" is:

In a cavern, in a canyon,
Excavating for a mine,
Lived a miner forty-niner
And his daughter, Clementine.

This is why San Francisco, California's American football team is named the "Forty-Niners."

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