Expression: Do you look younger than your age?"

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Wonderland - 17 Nov 2006 07:52 GMT

Is it okay? "Do you look younger than your age?" or "Do you look young?"

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HVS - 17 Nov 2006 07:59 GMT

On 17 Nov 2006, Wonderland wrote

> Is it okay? "Do you look younger than your age?" or "Do you look
> young?"

Both are OK, but they are quite different questions: the first is
relative, while the second is absolute.

(Someone who is 80 might look as if they are 65: they look younger
than their age, but they do not look "young".)

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Cheers, Harvey

Canadian and British English, indiscriminately mixed
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Millicent Tendency - 17 Nov 2006 10:00 GMT

>Is it okay? "Do you look younger than your age?" or "Do you look young?"

The standard idiom is "looks young for his/her age", so in direct
question form it would be "Do you look young for your age?"

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Millicent Tendency
(TEFKATHE)

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Mark Brader - 17 Nov 2006 18:49 GMT

We are asked:

>> Is it okay? "Do you look younger than your age?" or "Do you look young?"

As Harvey Van Sickle says, both are correct, but they mean different things.

Ross Howard writes:

> The standard idiom is "looks young for his/her age", so in direct
> question form it would be "Do you look young for your age?"

These forms are also correct.

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Mark Brader | "I can direct dial today a man my parents warred with.
Toronto | They wanted to kill him, I want to sell software to him."
msb@vex.net | -- Brad Templeton

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Roland Hutchinson - 18 Nov 2006 15:46 GMT

> We are asked:
>>> Is it okay? "Do you look younger than your age?" or "Do you look young?"
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> These forms are also correct.

Also the idiom "He/she is younger than he/she looks", whence "Are you
younger than you look?".

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Roland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food.

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Mark Brader - 20 Nov 2006 01:43 GMT

We are asked:

>>>> Is it okay? "Do you look younger than your age?" or "Do you look young?"

Mark Brader:

>> As Harvey Van Sickle says, both are correct, but they mean different
>> things.

Ross Howard:

>>> The standard idiom is "looks young for his/her age", so in direct
>>> question form it would be "Do you look young for your age?"

>> These forms are also correct.

Roland Hutchinson:

> Also the idiom "He/she is younger than he/she looks", whence "Are you
> younger than you look?".

These are also correct, but opposite in sense to the other set. If you
look younger than your age, you are *older* than you look.

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Mark Brader | "We didn't just track down that bug,
Toronto | we left evidence of its extermination
msb@vex.net | as a warning to other bugs" --Dan Lyke

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Roland Hutchinson - 20 Nov 2006 04:24 GMT

> We are asked:
>>>>> Is it okay? "Do you look younger than your age?" or "Do you look
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> These are also correct, but opposite in sense to the other set. If you
> look younger than your age, you are *older* than you look.

There is something to be said for the plausibility of that critique, I do
admit.

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Roland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food.

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mb - 20 Nov 2006 05:59 GMT

> Is it okay? "Do you look younger than your age?" or "Do you look young?"

You got advice about how to best ask these questions. More advice now,
if you want to live to get old yourself: Do not ask either.

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2006

Expression: Do you look younger than your age?"