The lexicon for sexiness—or lack thereof—covers a broad spectrum of age groups. There are the infamous Cougars, for example: older, single women on the prowl. Identifiable by their leather pants, Cougars can be found in many St. Catherine Street bars wearing leadlike eyeliner and surrounded by cigarette butts ringed with orange, burgundy or purple lipstick (which may or may not match their hair dye of choice). To call a lady a Cougar is not very kind. And most young lads who go around doing so would not dare utter such a name to her face. Cougars, naturally, are fierce.

There are the renards d’argents, too. A specialty in Quebec, these silver-headed men fancy themselves foxy; they slyly roam the streets looking for—and strangely often getting—action. A successful renard d’argent might remind you of Sean Connery. A less winning example might be Michael Douglas (on ...