We hear, "I'm having a senior moment here all the time in the U.S. I even hear 20-somethings using it. I am curious; is it as rampant in other English-speaking countries?

I wanted to find when it first was used, and The Word Spy says it was 1996. That seems late to me, but then I surely don't recall having heard it before that time.

Thoughts? (Or, are you having a senior moment? )

I believe I've had several senior moments - but I can't remember any of them.

You don't Richard? My children remind me of them all the time. "Do you remember when Dad ..."

I have senior moments everyday when I can't even recall the name of a trashcan.... it's scary!!

And, yes, my children help me along.... though they are probably the cause...

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I have senior moments everyday when I can't even recall the name of a trashcan

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What's the name of your trashcan, KHC? Mine's name is Fred.

I meant to write the "word" for trashcan...

But now -- I'm naming it Barney!

Actually, I think all along people forget words and places and other things. However, when you hit about 40, and you are still forgetting the same things, then you call it a senior moment.

We have lots of Senior moments around here - lots of Spanish speakers.

There was an article in my newspaper today that blames those "tip of the tongue" moments on caffeine. I don't have the paper with me now, so I can't quote directly.

Apparently researchers have discovered that caffeine actually helps people's recall when the word they need is related to the subject under discussion. However, if the conversation takes a new tack, it appears to hinder the subjects' ability to remember words.

For instance, the subjects were given a series of "priming" words, such as "Egypt", "hierarchy", "pyramid" etc., then were asked a question like "What was the ancient Egyptian picture-writing called?" Those who had ingested caffeine were more likely to answer immediately "hieroglyphics" than those in the control group.

However, if the "priming" words had no connection at all with the question, the caffeine-drinkers were less likely to be able to answer correctly than the control group.

Perhaps we can blame our "senior moments" on coffee and tea?

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere alcohol has that effect too. In the quantities I get through, anyway.

I hear "brain fart" much more often. I'm not sure of the first occurence of either term, but I would imagine that "senior moment", or a similar phrase, goes back as long as people have gotten old enough to be able to start forgetting things.

I've noticed that with reasonable quantities of alcohol my language skills plummet while my math skills barely suffer. Is this how my brain works, or some lurking factor?

It was only through reading this thread that I heard about senior moments.

The trick with caffeine is to have enough of it that you can remain primed on all subjects at once.

I'm surprised that you've not heard of the expression, Virge. Are you very young, or do you think that it's just not used in Oz?

I hear "brain fart" much more often.

And, I haven't heard that one before, though I think I am happy about that!

"Brain fart" is more likely to be used by younger members of society for the simple reason that they are unlikely to blame these temporary memory lapses on encroaching old age, apart from in jest. At a guess, I'd say that I've heard the two terms used about equally.

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Are you very young, or do you think that it's just not used in Oz?

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I think it hasn't caught on in Oz.

As for the "very young" question, I was born a little over nine months after Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper died. You can decide if that's young.

I hear "Brain fart" the most, I would say, except for possibly "Mental lapse", which is the most straight-forward(should there be a - here?) of the terms. "Senior moment" is something I've only heard rarely.

Now, I am getting the feeling, Seanahan, from other posts here, that you are young (college age?).

Virge, I don't think I'd call that "very young," but instead, "young at heart!"

Yes, I am 21, in college, and to me, Virge is ancient.

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Yes, I am 21, in college, and to me, Virge is ancient.

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"You are old, father Virgil," the young man said,
"Though you think you are still young at heart;
Could it be senior moments in Oz are widespread,
But you've suffered a major brain fart?"

Virge is ancient.
Sean is young.
Virge knows mental lapses.
Sean knows "Where's my napses?"
Virge has many brain farts.
Sean knows many cute tarts.

I can't decide whether to try alcohol or caffeine to help my "senior moments"... and "moments" is really stretching the truth.

Virge, you're young! I measure time according to astronomical time. There was no such thing as a red shift when I was a kid!

Archaeo-Asa

I think I realised I was getting old when I stopped thinking of age as some eccentricity that old people had chosen to adopt and realised that it's something that comes to all of us whether we want it to or not.

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Originally posted by Richard English:
I think I realised I was getting old when I stopped thinking of age as some eccentricity that old people had chosen to adopt and realised that it's something that comes to all of us whether we want it to or not.

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... if you're lucky!

Originally posted by Asa Lovejoy:
Virge, you're young! I measure time according to astronomical time. There was no such thing as a red shift when I was a kid!

Back in my day, we didn't have all this space and time nonsense. WE HAD ONE DAMN POINT! And we were glad to have it, too!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: neveu,

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There was no such thing as a red shift when I was a kid!

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I'm a bit confused by this statement. Didn't Hubble discover red shift around WWI?

Hubble schmubble! The point is that I'm sixteen light years older than the Big Bang!

My statement above is oxymoronic, since there was no light prior to the Big Bang. Thus I am really sixteen DARK years older than the Big Bang.

A light year is a unit of time. There may or may not have been light before the Big Bang. This is impossible to know. The Big Bang was either "The Beginning" or a cosmic reset. As far as scientists can tell, time did not exist prior to the Big Bang. With that much matter(energy) all together, the space-time continuum breaks down. So, your statement is incorrect, but for completely different reasons. However, it is no more correct than "I hate you times infinity", "Well I hate you times infinity plus one", etc., conservations children have.

Quote "...A light year is a unit of time..."

I always understood it to be a unit of distance - the distance light would travel in one Earth year.

Oy, such trouble I cause when I try to be a bit silly... Since pre-Bang all matter was concentrated at a single point of infinate mass, I'll modify my statement: It it wasn't light years, it was heavy years!

You're right, I had a "senior moment". A light year is the distance light travels in a year.