The names we use for people over 50

Whatever you do, don't say 'elderly.' The preferred word choice in a new survey: 'older.'

By Marilyn Gardner | Columnist

from the August 8, 2007 edition

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As the first wave of the huge boomer generation marches toward retirement, a linguistic question looms large: What should we call those in their middle and later years? Baby boomers? Older people? Senior citizens? Elders?

That's the question facing journalists who write about retirement and aging. But the issue goes beyond the language those in the media use. The words we all choose to describe people in midlife and beyond – ourselves and others – help to define and shape attitudes about the later years, both positive and negative.

To gauge the opinions and preferences of reporters and editors, Paul Kleyman, national coordinator of the Journalists Exchange on Aging, devised a survey on style. Nearly 100 participants responded from a network of 900 journalists in all media who cover issues in aging at least part time.

Their top choice for a neutral and flexible general term to describe those in later life is "older," used to modify people, adults, individuals, or Americans.

The second most widely accepted group description for older people is "seniors," though journalists caution that it is not to be used to describe those younger than 65.

But users beware. Boomers is fine, according to many survey participants, but not baby boomers. ("They're not babies anymore," one respondent said.) Seniors is acceptable, but senior citizens shows up on the list of "mostly disliked" terms. "I don't have a problem with senior after the age of 70 or to get the senior discount when I'm 55," one columnist wrote.

"Elderly" is the word that grates the most. Elderly used as an adjective is acceptable, but the phrase "the elderly" comes under criticism for its "impersonal and stigmatizing manner" of grouping older people together with images of frailty and decline.

"Elders," on the other hand, can convey respect.

To describe those at the younger end of the spectrum, middle-aged and midlife make the list of preferred synonyms.

Age-specific references such as "those over 50" or "people 65 and up" also win approval among the journalists.

It's not just generational labels – nouns – that can convey negative images. Pesky little words, such as "still," as in, "still driving" or "still jogging," imply that these activities are something out of the ordinary, defying the norm.

Then there are the adjectives that are meant to sound complimentary but actually boomerang. Think of spry, perky, chipper, feisty, sweet, little, and grandmotherly. For one journalist responding to the survey, the cloying phrase "100 years young" represents the worst possible cliché about aging.

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