Where did the expression “my old man” come from and why does it refer to a woman’s husband and at the same time a man’s father? Also men use “my old lady” to refer to their wives but not mothers.
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Most of western society is patriarchal, where the oldest man is the one who runs the family. For men, that would typically be their father until he passes, at which time they take over as patriarch. For women, this would be their father until she married, at which point it would become her husband.
So, your “old man” – i.e. the man who runs your family – varies based on your gender. While those standards don’t apply as much today as they did 100 years ago, the etymology stuck.
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