In The Washington Post, Gary Abernathy writes about ageism and how it grates:
How should we respectfully refer to old people? I’ve seen people 60-plus still refer to themselves as “middle aged,” but let’s be a little more realistic and cut that off at least by 59. The word “old,” however, is such a pejorative that it should not be used alone. “Older person” is preferable. I hesitate to use “elderly” at all, which implies not just old age but a feeble condition. I’ve always despised “senior citizen” and references to the “golden years.” How ’bout “best people ever?” That’s good.And:
I sometimes notice younger people in social settings looking past me or through me, as though I’m almost invisible.Yep.
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I just remembered and found something that I wrote in an e-mail to a friend earlier this year. Here it is, with one slip fixed:
Old — when I bought the graphic novels New Kid and Class Act at Barnes & Nobility, the clerk mentioned[I changed the ‘bout in the Abernathy passage to ’bout. ’Cos that’s how I roll.]itstheir new popularity and that of Maus, and I mentioned that I was the first person in my English department to teach a graphic novel, namely Maus. Years ago, I said, shortly after the invention of printing. She didn’t laugh, didn’t bat an eye. This seems to happen as one becomes older — what you say goes right past people. Grr. And when I’ve acquired such wisdom!
comments: 15
As someone on this side of the pond who is 60-plus, my immediate response to Gary Abernathy's words is "what a plonker" :) A quick Wiki search suggests he's 55 years old, and perhaps has a mortal terror of time's wingéd chariot hurrying near, seeing as how he's fast approaching that 59 number he plucked out of the air. Over here, regular retirement age is not until 66 for both men and women (though some folk choose to retire to different extents at different ages).
But he’s over that hill — he says in the column that he’s sixty-six.
Me, I think of sixty as the new forty. : )
I could name a few industries where once you've crossed 40, you're old.
What do you think of "elder"? I kind of like it, though it's hard to see myself in it.
@Jim: I think of that whenever I see obits for professional athletes.
@DN3: “Elder” to my ears suggests religious hierarchy. And once at a meeting about town development, I heard someone refer to the “city elders.” So it doesn’t work well for me. I do like “older person,” even if Gary Abernathy (as I now know) ran a paper that endorsed a certain candidate in 2016.
Referring to your post on the thirteenth of this month, would the collective of elders be a codger?
Ha! But the coots might complain.
Alright then, a copy of elders.
Not copy, coot.
That certainly sounds better to me than council.
I'm fine with older person or older people, just as I prefer Black people (or ___ people) to "Blacks" or shortening to whatever other adjective used as a plural noun... it's just long.
I have occasionally used "the olds" in a half-joking way.
I find myself saying “younger person” too, and “When I was younger.” No absolutes, just -er.
I've been calling myself middle aged, ever since age 35, since the Bible says we live to be three score and ten, and 35 is right in the middle. Besides, I was around students, looking middle aged to them.
My 65th is in only two weeks, so I am pretty sure I will call myself a senior citizen then. Senior for short.
For me elders means aboriginals (indigenous in Canada)
As for bout, good for you. My Mac requires hoop jumping before I can use an apostrophe at the start of a word.
I remember a biographer of Samuel Johnson referring to Johnson's years around age 60 as "upper middle age." Still my favorite term. Johnson, by the way, completed his monumental Lives of the Poets at age 72. So I've decided upper middle age can extend into your 70s.
@Sean: the ’ in ’bout is easy on a Mac: Shift + Option + ]. And just Option + ] for ‘. The same combinations with [ make double quotation marks. I can’t tell you how long I used a Mac before I discovered that.
@Dan: I think the “upper” adds a touch of distinction, as in “upper grades” and “upper-level courses.”
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