To be surprised that 65+ is deemed ‘elderly’

Omg it's not. 65 is very very much not middle aged.

@SadnessInMyIntestines sorry you are correct.
So if half of women in the UK die before 84 years of old, I have no idea who anyone could say that 84 is not old.

I agree with you, why are you arguing with me?! It was just a comment that your association with age and pejorative descriptions are not equal.

That isn’t how medians work. You’re getting confused with the mode (which is the most common value in a dataset). The median is the middle value of all numbers in a dataset, so it effectively means that half of women die at or before 84 and half of women die at or after 84.

@Helfs Nobody said no one lived beyond 84 years old. But that is the median age for women to die, so a lot of women do die then or close to the median. That is how medians work. It means 84 is the most common age for women to die.

I don't know what your point is. Would you like some more of my examples, so you can pluck out an adjective at random that you don't like?

"That middle-aged man who looks like a badly stuffed soft toy."
"That old woman with the hot pink blusher."
"That fat guy with the thinning hair."
"That pale girl with the sloping shoulders."

It wasn’t at random. I read your whole post and I said I wouldn’t use descriptors so I was agreeing with you. I wouldn’t describe someone as old or young but equally, I wouldn’t say it’s comparable to using negative language about someone’s appearance.

Plucking a word at random from a post is sillier. 😂

Are you for real @chopinwaltz26 ? What a revolting thing to say.

Any other wealthy eugenicists on here?

I agree saying “old” isn’t a good descriptor as, clearly, it means different things to different people but comparing it to “gormless” is just silly. 😂 I would describe someone by their hair and clothes and location though. It’s easier to avoid any potential offence.

I didn't say the average life expentancy is 90, but that doesn't alter the fact that it is not uncommon for people to reach that age. When I was much younger I knew one person who had a 100 year old grandmother and we were astounded. No-one is astounded now to hear of someone being that age. People are living longer than they used to. Btw, I live in a small town and I know of several people 100 or over, so surely there must be many, many, more in the UK. Other than one who lost a parent early, all my friend's parents died in their late 80s/early 90s.

None of what you've said here or elsewhere on this thread excuses you from announcing to visitors that the person they are seeking is "the old lady with the grey bob", of a woman in her fifties.

How would you like it if a co-worker described you as (for example): "the fat woman in the corner," or "the skinny girl with bad acne", or "the gormless looking lady with sallow skin and greasy hair".

It is one thing for a woman in her fifties to self-deprecatingly call herself "old", it is quite another to use that term to describe her to others, particularly clients of some sort. She is "older" not "old". "She looks old to me," is not sufficient. You, in your early thirties, would be "old" in the eyes of a child or teenager, etc.

The funny thing is, after all this debate over the meaning of 'old'... the dictionary definitions are either:

• Having lived for many years
• No longer young (that's like saying dark is, well, not bright)

@IloveAslan I do not know what country you are in. In the UK some people live into their nineties and to a 100 and beyond. But the median age for women to die is 84 years old. So lots of women at 78 years old, only have another six years to live.

I don't live in the UK, but it is pretty common for people here to reach their 90s and I know several who have made it into their 100s, some of them living at home with little help.

I would not describe anyone as being old until they are 80. In my experience, unless there is some health issue, people start to slow down and go downhill after that.

Do you really look at someone in their early 70s and think they look old? I certainly don't. I don't think being old is a bad thing, but I can't see how someone who doesn't actually look old can be described as old.

Old people denying that they're old because they can do XYZ still is shocking.
People need to stop internalising the societal view that being old is bad or means you can't be fit and healthy still.
My elderly grandparents were fit and healthy and travelling and dancing and old as fuck in their early seventies, and they owned it.

They're still old 😂

I am interested in people saying they are young because they run marathons. I mean good on you for running a marathon whatever age you are. I’m sure it takes a lot of hard work and dedication so genuinely well done. What about those of us who have lived with long term chronic health issues that affected our mobility or fatigue? I will never be able to say that I’m “45 but I can run” because I’m a decade younger and I cannot now due to a disability. Just a thought, I don’t have the answer.

@IloveAslan what do you consider old given that 84 is the median age for women to die?

Well they aren't young and they aren't middle aged either. Just because they are fit, well and healthy does not make them not old.

You wouldn't say that if you knew the people in their 70s that I know. There is no way I would describe them as "old", several of them still work, many volunteer, they are fit and reasonably healthy, travel, and enjoy life to the full.

A stupid post from the get-go.

25-40 isn't adult.

18-death is adult.