Shocked at the term "elderly" for a 56 year old.

[Blondiebeachbabe]

Just watching a crime documentary, and the murderer was a 56 year old woman. The Cop talking to the camera, was saying how he couldn't believe that the murderer turned out to be an elderly lady. WTF? I'm 54 and don't feel "elderly" whatsoever. Whilst my own kids are adults, I know plenty of people in their 50's who still have kids at school!

What age do you think constitutes elderly? For me, I'd say 70+ (whilst acknowledging that many people that age are perfectly fit, well and able).

How is it a state of mind?
You could make the same argument for being young, but that’s not something we can hold onto as long as we’d choose to either, no matter how “young at heart” we’ll feel when the time comes!

You can be an old bat at any age…
Elderly is something else.

71 here, I would say I am old, but not elderly. I still run a business and also lift weights and run daily. My DH is 76 and cycles every day, overtaking youngsters on his old clunker bike. We are old but far from helpless.

My husband will be 70 next year and was pacing at parkrun this morning (28 minutes, not a challenging time for him to achieve). The idea of calling him elderly is just weird. He is exceptionally active, in both mind and body. I do accept he's been lucky to date.

I think state of mind does play a large part. My aunt was widowed before she was 70 and it hit very hard. She had some non-trivial physical health issues but I think the worst thing was that she was clinically depressed and made little effort to get out or keep active, either mentally or physically. She moved into sheltered housing and just waited to die, essentially. It happened when she was 80 which is the youngest anyone on that side of the family has died for decades.

My Dad, her brother, had the great good luck to have my Mum in his life and they made a great team. They both had some physical health issues as they got older but remained mentally alert and very active in the community. The key thing was the support and companionship they gave each other. He lived to 89. My Mum's still going strong(ish) at 91.

80+ is elderly in my mind though partly it's also down to disability, I've met 65 year olds who present as elderly and 85 year olds who are positively spritely

@Pinkpinkpink15 ”I wouldn't test me on the murder aspect. There are still people on my list!”

now there’s a stylish way to announce getting away with murder 😂

I glad I don’t see much advertising. I genuinely didn’t know about those ads being targeted at 50+.

A lady at my gym said her mum criticised her for wearing leggings as day wear. Apparently over 30 is too old and over 50 is a disgrace. I had to clamp my mouth shut to tell her my mum wouldn’t see me again if she came out with a comment like that.

No way! I'm 54 and I consider myself middle aged but only because I've got a bit slower now!

It reminds me of those news articles where something happens to "Mrs B, a grandmother of 3", and I'm reading it expecting her to be in her late 60's / early 70's, but when they have the sad face photo and caption it turns out she's 49!

I've only just conceded that I'm middle aged!

Elderly never begins until at least 15-20 years older than you

I work on an elderly care ward, and our patients are 65+. So 65+ is considered elderly there.

Seventy in a few months. Anyone who describes me as elderly can watch out.

When I was little anyone over 20-25 was elderly, nowadays it's a bit older than that.

50s is middle-aged. Over 70 is elderly.

Spritely. There's another word that ought to be outlawed. Get over 70 and you're described as 'spritely' if you don't have to sit down to put your socks on.

Crazy! 56 seems young to me (as I’m only 4 years away from it!).

I think 80 could be called elderly nowadays.

Bloody hell! I'm nearly 55 with a just turned 13 year old son. I couldn't be further from "elderly". Mind you I remember my Nan telling my very glamorous ex model mother that now she had turned 40 she was elderly and needed to have her hair "set". Maybe some people have a skewed idea of elderly!

Retirement isn't the final stage of life. It used to be when it was men retiring at 65 and dying at 68.

But if you retire at 60 , you might easily have 30 years left. That's a very long stage. There are still multiple stages in my view.

What about the chap in Liverpool (Southport) who's 111? He retired in 1972! That's my entire lifespan! I know he's an outlier, but even so.

This (I'm 69).

I think the older I get, the older I think 'elderly' is 😂

He Likely misspoke or maybe the woman appeared older than she was. Elderly does seem to be old plus being frail giving the comments many have made here, although for some it is just a question of being a certain age.

I think the 50 or 55 "starter" ages for Saga cruises and retirement homes might be a spouse thing. Not so many 50 year olds are going to want to go on a Saga cruise on their own account. But they might have a 65 or 70 year old spouse who does.

This is so true. My grandmother looked and acted and dressed "elderly" in her late 50s. That was what I think was expected in 1980. She didn't seem significantly different when she was in her 70s. It's a shock to do the sums and realise that, at the time when I remember her wearing a shampoo and set and refusing to walk more than 50 yards for anything, she was actually only a few years older than I am now.

Maybe he meant "elderly for that type of murder"?😆As in this particular type of murder was more usual in a younger age bracket. Kind of how when I imagine a poisoning, somehow I don't ever think of it being committed by a young person🤷‍♀️

No way is 50s elderly. Cheek of that policeman. 60 this year, still working (by choice), run a 5km in pretty decent time and often ahead of those in their 30s, cycle with the A group of mainly men and regularly go on hikes, plus all my own teeth 🫢😂

@EmmaEmerald

I know my mum 'thinks' it, but even she has the sense not to say it.

shell give me money for my birthday and say 'maybe you could buy something nice to wear'. It's tempting to mention how many T-shirts/legging etc I could buy 😂😂