age before beauty
A humorous way to tell someone to go ahead of one, meant as a playful insult. Chuck held the door open for Tim, motioned for him to go ahead, and said, "Age before beauty." A: "Who gets to go first?" B: "You? Age before beauty?" B: "Ha ha, very funny." After you, my dear sister. Age before beauty
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
age before beauty
a jocular and slightly rude way of encouraging someone to go ahead of oneself; a comical, teasing, and slightly grudging way of indicating that someone else should or can go first. "No, no. Please, you take the next available seat," smiled Tom. "Age before beauty, you know."
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
age before beauty
Defer to the older person. This phrase is traditionally used when inviting another individual to pass through a doorway before one. Eric Partridge described it as a mock courtesy uttered by a young woman to an older man. Currently it is used only ironically or sarcastically. According to an old story, it was said rather snidely by Clare Boothe Luce when ushering Dorothy Parker through a doorway, and Parker replied, “Pearls before swine.” A related cliché is after you, Alphonse—no, after you, Gaston, repeated a number of times (in Britain, after you, Claude—no, after you, Cecil). The American version is based on a comic strip by Frederick Burr Opper, Alphonse and Gaston, which was popular in the early 1900s, and pokes fun at exaggerated politeness.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer