i was talking with someone this morning who i've come to associate with the expectation of learning a new word with each encounter, and she used the word "dotage" in reference to declining faculties due to age. i'd never heard this root used in any other context than 'doting', and it wasn't until i searched for an etymological relationship that i learned of "doting's" secondary definition, to wit:

doting:

1. Feeling and expressing affection : affectionate, devoted, fond, loving.
2. Exhibiting the mental and physical deterioration often accompanying old age : doddering, senile.

i can't see the connection between these two uses. can anyone enlighten me??

>i can't see the connection between these two uses...

the nexus is foolishness, caused either by old age or excessive fondness

dotingly yrs,
ron obvious

One of the symptoms of dotage in the old age sense isexcessive sentimentality which blinds one to the truth of the situation, see for example King Lear, or almost any grandparent bearing photos of grandchildren.

Bingley

dotage: the age at which one becomes dotty. People of this age were also born in the year dot.

I used to think that "nonage" meant almost the same as dotage, more specifically "in one's nineties" from nonente, Swiss French for ninety. I now know that it means the age at which one shouldn't be getting none

Rod

I now know that it means the age at which one shouldn't be getting none

That double negative is throwing me a curve but I presume you are speaking for yourself?

Lemme tell ya' -- the closer you get to 90, the younger it looks.
Or as someone (?) once said "Eventually I became old, but it was a lot later than I thought."

Then there's the saying that gives me a chuckle : "If I'd known I was going to live this long, I'd've taken better care of myself! Tooooo true.

Hey, watch that stuff about grandparents and grandchildren. I can't help it if my granddaughter (age 2-1/2) is the cutest and most intelligent and most beautiful child on the planet. Everyone who meets her in person agrees with me. Or else.

I now know that it means the age at which one shouldn't be getting none

That double negative is throwing me a curve but I presume you are speaking for yourself?

I should have put the double negative in quotes to point out I knew it was a colloquialism. Heaven forfend that any of the board members think I speak that way as a matter of course. I am over half way between my nonage and dotage or my two nonages by the above definition.!
Rod

I now know that it means the age at which one shouldn't be getting none

Hence the mediaeval song line, "Hey, nonny, no!" It was clearly used for one's great-grandparents who might look as if they were sneaking off ...