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Idiom: Rob the cradle
Today, we have an idiom that refers to an age mismatch between a romantically involved man and a woman.
If you hear that a man or a woman robbed the cradle, it means that their romantic partner is significantly younger than they are.
Unfortunately, it is often used negatively or disapprovingly.
We often think that a fifty-year-old man who is involved with a twenty-seven-year-old woman is doing something wrong.
Whereas, in his opinion, he is doing something very, very right.
Who are we to judge?
Who are we to condemn him and say he robbed the cradle?
Perhaps they have both found true love.
We don’t know what goes on in the hearts of two people.
Of course, there are two sides to every coin, and we must always consider that.
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Now, saying that someone has robbed the cradle is not always negative.
In some cases, it could be a compliment.
Have you ever noticed how some women look much younger and more vibrant than their husbands even though they are approximately the same age?
In such a case, if you tell the man that he robbed the cradle, you are complimenting the woman on her looks and the man on being lucky enough to have such a beautiful, attractive, and young-looking spouse.
If you do it correctly, everyone is happy.
Like many things in the English language, context is the key to understanding what people say.
If you pay attention to what is happening in the situation, you will be better able to understand what is said.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least an 8th-grade education (age 13 – 14).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 67.
The higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100, the easier the passage is to read.