also: ろうしょうふじょう
noun
uncertainty of life; death comes to old and young alike
A yojijukugo expressing the Buddhist idea that death does not follow a set order; the young may die before the old. Used in reflective or literary contexts.
老少不定という言葉は、人生の無常を表している。
The phrase 老少不定 expresses the impermanence of life.
彼は若くして亡くなったが、まさに老少不定だ。
He died young; it's truly a case of the uncertainty of life.
A yojijukugo derived from Buddhist teachings, combining 老 (old), 少 (young), 不 (not), and 定 (fixed), literally meaning 'old and young are not fixed', i.e., the order of death is unpredictable.