When I write about people older than, let's say, 50, I tend to use the term "senior citizen" for such a person. The large and well-known organization usually called "AARP" uses the word "retired". The English word "elder", both as an adjective (the elder brother) and as a noun (I am a village elder), is sometimes used as a verb to mean give advice from an elderly perspective: the old citizen decided it was time to elder him.
The first time I heard of "young old" and "old old" people was when my wife was discussing the book "Another Country: Navigating the Emotional Terrain of Our Elders" by Mary Pipher. As relatives and friends age, they sometimes wonder at what age are we old? There is no single number that I know of that marks the old off from other ages. Pipher made the useful distinction between those with fewer years and fewer lessened or lost faculties and those with more years and more lost or lessened faculties.
On a side note: I just finished reading through Bart Kosko's "Fuzzy Thinking: The New Science of Fuzzy Logic". I know that in my world of legal, scientific and argumentative thinking, people have a habit of asking for clarification of terms. "What do you mean by 'old'?" Sometimes, it is easier to just leave terms undefined, or vague or to refer to what has sometimes been called 'common sense'. These are the sort of times when my mother would impatiently snarl,"You know what I am talking about!"
I have heard that the name "Elderhostel" was found to have too strong a connotation of senility or decrepitude so the organization tried using "Road Scholar" where it could. My four year old greatgrandson can see that I am old, pure and simple. Look at me: white hair, wrinkly cheeks - old.
I find 'elder' a rarer word that is still understood by most and it is a single word as opposed to "senior citizen". On and near college campuses and high schools, "seniors" mean young people about to leave school, not people in their 50's, 60's and on up. Still, 'senior citizen' brings to mind someone aware of citizenship and political life, still a tax payer and a person who can often be relied on to have opinions, lots of them.
I have mentioned the Swedish statistician and medical researcher, Hans Rosling, before. He emphasizes that the world as a whole is changing and pictures many people carry in their heads about life around the world are outdated.
Happy Easter! Happy Spring!
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
