What age is old and elderly?

[peasandpetals]

Just curious.
What age do you class as old?
As elderly?
Are they the same thing?
I ask as I'm unable to gauge what I am.
I'd love to know your age and your assessment.
Just a bit of fun.

80+ really. Suddenly in early 80's people start to struggle a bit with things they breezed through in their 70's.

To be fair those things are fucking weird. I saw one recently that said "you might be old. But are you old enough to remember this?" Complete with a picture of... Elefun.
Fucking Elefun. My DC had one of those and they are 16 and 19 so far from old!

I refuse to hear 'old' or 'elderly' as bad things. They are neutral facts in my mind.

If I can remember stuff that happened 50 years ago then I'm old ! 50 years is a long time in human lifespan.

Elderly in my head probably indicates the start of the phase of life when you may well be vulnerable due to age, there are many possible domains of vulnerable. Elderly doesn't mean you are vulnerable, it's just an umbrella term for that phase of life when you might well need to consider if there is vulnerability due to age. I'd use elderly to describe someone from about age 70.

btw, I also can't hear young as automatically good (or better or preferable). It's a fact not a quality. I'd stop using young at about age 30 yrs.

This thread reminds me of when DS was about 4 and my friend's Dad who knows my FIL asked: "How is your Grandad?" to which DS replied: "old".

That’s what I think @lljkk. Old is just a phase of life - it’s neutral and doesn’t imply that you can’t do anything. Some people seem to think it’s a slur and that they can defeat getting old. Modern society sells us this myth that aging is failure (especially women) and that being old is this awful thing that if we try hard enough we can escape. I embrace getting older - it is nothing to be ashamed of and I appreciate what I can do so much more. Youth is definitely wasted on the young….

I’m 57 and did a 20 mile bike ride yesterday and a hike today, I admit I’m slower than almost 40 years ago so that ride and hike took longer but think of myself as late middle age. I did notice quite a few youngsters using electric bikes, I was following a National cycle network so lots of bikes. I was thinking I would need an electric bike in about a decade and was surprised such young people used them.

I would say old as an in real category is 75 onwards but when it comes to state of mind one of the most spirited friends I have is 84. When out on our bikes we had a chat to a walker who was 85, she said she can only manage up to 4 miles now and flat terrain, I will be pleased if I’m around and can do that.

At the height of the COVID pandemic, 60 became old for a significant number of deeply unpleasant posters on MN, they were people only fit for the scrapheap, and the cause of all woes and inconveniences of lockdown.

At 68 I tend to use the word older for 65+, though even this is based on how a person appears. I use elderly for those who seem more frail.

Old should not be a disparaging term, but sadly it is.

Someone can be old at 40. Others not until 100 is. It's a state of mind for sure

My parents are in their late 50s / early 60s and I definitely don't think of them as old, my grandparents were "old" a lot younger if that makes any sense!

Thing is though, the word 'old' very frequently is used as a derogatory insult, on MN and elsewhere.

No it isn't anymore.They need to stop.using the word frail and elderly.

zombie post

Elderly makes me think of this road signs showing a pair of bent oldies with sticks. So it usually = doddery as well as old. Someone who ‘has a fall’ rather than just tripping and falling over.

Just ‘old’ is IMO anything over about 70. I don’t mind at all when a little Gdd tells me very kindly that I’ve got wrinkles because I’m old.

My sister-in-law's mum used to go round her village 'visiting the old folk.'
She was 92 at the time.

Love this😄

And before anyone else gets their knickers in a twist, I know it's an old thread. It came up on my list because I contributed to it before.