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news
Blenheim Sportive 6It's official - MAMILs get Oxford Dictionaries seal of approval as list of new words published
It’s official! The acronym MAMILs – middle-aged men in Lycra – has made it onto a list of new words and phrases released today by Oxford University Press, publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary.
It appears on a list of new words and phrases including lolcat, Obamacare and tomoz in an update published today on Oxforddictionaries.com.
Here’s the definition of ‘MAMIL’ (which can also be styled ‘Mamil’):
NOUN (plural MAMILs)
British informal
A middle-aged man who is a very keen road cyclist, typically one who rides an expensive bike and wears the type of clothing associated with professional cyclists:
'he spends his weekend mornings cycling with other MAMILs'
'this is as close to a professional peloton as any MAMIL will ever get'
Oxforddictionaries.com gives the word’s origin as: “Early 21st century: acronym from middle-aged man in Lycra (from the proprietary term for a type of fabric or fibre used to make close-fitting sportswear); the term was apparently first used in Australia with reference to a particular type of male swimmer.”
However, the first use we saw of it in a cycling context came in a consumer research report on the UK bicycle market published by the market research firm Mintel in August 2010, which highlighted growing numbers of well-off middle-agers, often professionals, taking to bicycles.
The report’s author, Michael Oliver, said at the time: "Thirty or 40 years ago, people would ride a bike for economic reasons, but our research suggests that nowadays a bicycle is more a lifestyle addition, a way of demonstrating how affluent you are."
To employ anoher new word (in its adjectival sense) the term MAMIL can evoke Marmite feelings among the cycling community, some wearing it as a badge of honour, others using it pejoratively to describe a certain kind of “all the gear but no idea” arriviste to the sport.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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26 comments
When I passed my 73rd birthday (last month) I thought I'd better start calling myself a VOMIL (Very Old Man In Lycra), but my partner said no. According to her, I'm still a BOAB (Bloke On A Bike)!
An urgent debate is necessary to define middle aged! In "Health at a Glance: Europe 2014" the OECD observes that EU28 life expectancy increased by 5 years since the 1990s to reach 79.2 years (Spain tops the list with 82.5 thanks I guess to a potent mix of Rioja and cols). In the ligth of this new evidence and extrapolations until 2040, young rookies in the 35-45 bracket should wait at least another 10 years before bragging MAMIL credentials! And what about the effect of Lycra on the sustainability of our pension system?
It's a fair point, at what age do you actually become middle aged in order to define yourself as a MAMIL?!
I don't take offence with the term though, it's mostly used in a relatively endearing sense, particularly by non-cyclists.
The coining of MAMIL has created the term "MAMIL Toe" as a by-product though...
http://mamil-toe.urbanup.com/7282436
I'm 35 today! Which means from today online marketing forms will give me the drop-down age choice of 35-45. So I guess from today I am also officially a MAMIL!
No, no. That's 'approaching late youth'. The next stage is Late Youth, followed many, many years later by 'Approaching Early Middle Age', 'Middle Age' 'Late Middle Age' then just 'Late'.
...late Jurassic, then Devonian.
I am positively Holocene.
Having caught the fitness bug just in time, I am proud to be in the club of mamil
Let's face it - lycra is comfortable. When I reach middle age, I want to be wearing it whether I'm still riding a bike or not.
Our club has quite a little flock of Mamils over 50 years old, for which we won a prize this week (silver plate and £ for development). The award was for focus on training and performance, noting that most of the time our faster groups are led by over 50's.
It's not all bad :o)
If I wasn't a MAMIL, then I couldn't be a DILF !
2 things.
1) I'm a *cyclist*. Otherwise, Kierkegaard applies.
2) The OED should rename itself the Cambridge ED, it's letting any old shite in these days.
This isn't the OED, it's the oxforddictionaries.com website. You have to pay for online access to the OED.
I used to be a MAMIL, now I'm a GOFIL (Geriatric Old Fart In Lycra.). Can we get GOFIL into the dictionary next year?
I prefer to think of myself as an OAPIL, Old Age Pensioner In Lycra. I am not yet geriatric but the wind assistance is sometimes useful.
MAMILs rule ! basically if you're out busting about on a bike and you fit that age demographic, your ......a ......badass ! Say it once say it loud I'm a MAMIL and I'm proud !! A tip of the cap to you all !
Hey, it's better than MAMIP (...in pub) or MAMID (...in drag).
The only sad thing about this is not the term, but that the term is now in the dictionary. FML I wonder WTF will be the next nonsense to get in there, or will they just start to put in
and other smileys ROFLMAO
Sometimes I think these articles on MAMILs take the piss a little but then I remind myself that I don't really care and am happy being a MAMIL.
I ride my bike because I enjoy it and it makes me feel like I am 12 years old on the way to the park to meet my mates with nothing but a few fruit salad chews in my pocket for nutrition.
When I grow older I hope that one day I will become a MAMIL
Don't worry Scoob, it will happen for you very soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Veq4Oc8S7-I
Since I've been wearing lycra and riding my bike for the last 15 years, no one said I have to stop. I though I would get some exemption but people can't tell I was a pre-Mamil.
Ha ha true dat!
Don't worry Scoob, it will happen for you very soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Veq4Oc8S7-I
Since I've been wearing lycra and riding my bike for the last 15 years, no one said I have to stop. I though I would get some exemption but people can't tell I was a pre-Mamil.
I'm a MAMIL. Been cycling for over 20 years, most of it in Lycra, but middle age comes to all of us sooner or later. So what?
More worrying to me, since I'm also a BOF*, is the addition of acronyms and slang into a dictionary of the English language. Language evolves, and this is a good thing, but this is a bit of a joke IMO.
* Boring Old Fart
Of course having slang and acronyms in a dictionary is a good thing. People will come across these words and they may want to look up what they mean. Mamil for instance is marked as 'British informal' by oxforddictionaries.com so those reading the dictionary should know that it might not be appropriate for use in a formal or a non-British context.
I am 47 years old. When I'm out riding either on a Sunday with my local club or just on my daily commute I wear Lycra.
there really no getting away from it I am a MAMIL.
I kind of find 'Mamil' a bit of an endearing term.
It may be mocking, but only gently so - there is no getting around the fact that we are over the hill and dressed in tight fitting lycra ... 'Mamil' sums up the whole ridiculousness of it -
but ridiculous is good isn't it?