Christmas Cake

[BlackenedEyes]

I just heard a new expression and i'm wondering what it means...

ano ona no hito wa "Christmas Cake" desu

[kirei_na_me]

I only know what a friend of mine once told me about the "Christmas Cake" expression. She told me it referred to a woman's age. The "Christmas Cake" is a cake that is to be purchased before the 24th, so in time for Christmas. After that time, Christmas cakes aren't needed. They say the same rule applies for women. After age 24, no one wants them(for marriage).

Someone else probably has a better explanation, but this is how it was told to me.

[Dekamaster]

I just heard a new expression and i'm wondering what it means...

ano ona no hito wa "Christmas Cake" desu

Ano = that
onna no hito = woman

I think that literally means 'that woman is a christmas cake' :relief:

[Uncle Frank]

Kirei is a lot closer to what it means.

Frank

:blush:

[kirei_na_me]

Yeah, it's supposed to be slang.

My younger female Japanese friend told me about it a long time ago. My husband had never heard of the expression before...

[epigene]

Hi,

Kirei is correct, but more correctly, a woman who is a "Christmas cake" is one who loses value (in terms of attractiveness, youth, etc.) when she hits 25.

Please note that this expression is already obsolete. Women begin to worry around 35 these days. :-)

[Sally_Hawn]

I've heard of this expression ten years ago. My sister's Japanese female friend introduced herself to us as a Christmas cake, but now she is happily married to a Canadian guy. So, Christmas cake is not really a curse or anything serious.

[RinoaRita]

Hi,

Kirei is correct, but more correctly, a woman who is a "Christmas cake" is one who loses value (in terms of attractiveness, youth, etc.) when she hits 25.

Please note that this expression is already obsolete. Women begin to worry around 35 these days. :-)


Yeah, japanese women aren't worrying about marriage anymore... it used to be that women always worried about marriage...and the company bosses used to to give the "shoulder tap" to get older women out of being office ladies.

(shoulder tap meaning..."tap tap...ummm aren't you a little old to be here?" when a women reaches a certain age.)

As a result, getting married was really the only real way for a woman to be secure a few decades ago.

Now that women can live confortably on their own, marriage is no longer their top concern and the marriage rate has been declining.

personally, I think that it is a form of lashing out against japanese society by the women.

[Dekamaster]

Hi,

Kirei is correct, but more correctly, a woman who is a "Christmas cake" is one who loses value (in terms of attractiveness, youth, etc.) when she hits 25.

Please note that this expression is already obsolete. Women begin to worry around 35 these days. :-)

Just curious, why is losing value "in terms of attractiveness, youth, etc" equated with a Christmas Cake ?

[RinoaRita]

I think it's just a silly word play type thing. Like X mas in on the 25th and you can't sell X mas cake after the 25th, so it's like that with age. If X mas fell on the 10th or something, this metafore (sp?) would not exist.

[epigene]

Just curious, why is losing value "in terms of attractiveness, youth, etc" equated with a Christmas Cake ?
No one wants to buy Chirstmas cake when Christmas is over (Dec. 25), of course!! :blush:

[Dekamaster]

Ah. Okay. :relief:

[nurizeko]

it would go someway to explain why alot of japanese women who arnt uber young seem to end up with american/western husbands ^ ~ ^

just a theory...

[TuskCracker]

.
.
Q finds her groove in NY

By Jiro Adachi
NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE , New York
Monday, Jan 31, 2005,Page 16

.. on and on..

"If you are an unmarried woman older than 25," said Jun Takama, a 41-year-old who has lived in New York, mostly in Chelsea, since 1996, "people refer to you as Niju-go nichi sugita Kurisumasu keiki." Translation: you're a Christmas cake, because no one wants you after "25.

.. on and on...
"


I found this suprising. Many americans are waiting till late 20's, early 30's
to marry. Both sex's (There soo many american men, unmarried, deseparate
for wives. They will take anything near their age !)



_.

[Kama]

Pretty funny comparison. :D

When did they start spending Christmas and having Christmas cakes? I'm curious how old is this.... thing...

[TuskCracker]

it would go someway to explain why alot of japanese women who arnt uber young seem to end up with american/western husbands ^ ~ ^

just a theory...

I don't think American men are so rigid on the age.

Many american men are in their 30's still unmarried,
they just don't marry anyone older, thats all.