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