We need a new word for between middle aged and old

[PersonalBest]

I'm 60, obviously not middle aged. I don't feel old though. My mother is old, she's 91. Geriatrics has come up with the term "old old" (I think!) because people are living so long. But I think there's a gap now, for those of us who are in-between old and middle aged. Am I young old? Pre old? Post middle aged? Any ideas? A lot of people will say I'm just old, get on with it. Well, I'm not accepting it sorry!

I'm 65 and was thinking about this just the other day.
I came to the conclusion those in their 60s/70s probably fit the description "old" (though I am fit & healthy!) and people in their 80s/90s "elderly".
But I do sympathise with your resistance to the word old!

So that'll be lots of people who only turn 'old' once they reach 100 before long!

I was only just starting to think of myself as being middle aged at 45, for me it's approx 45 to 65 which is the middle part of adult life. I didn't have DCs till my late 30s, in my parents generation of my family most are still alive and living in their own homes in their 80s/90s. Those that are dead lived to their 80s/90s apart from a couple of who died younger of cancer. My grandparents all lived well into their 80s too. Maybe that skews my perception.

If it's not internalised ageism, why do so many people cheerfully refer to themselves as young, even when they're 35?!

You clearly do think it's a bad thing.. because to you it's a person that is not fit and active and not able to work.

None of which is in the definition of old. Many disabled twenty year olds probably fit that definition. They're not old.

Dh is 51. I tell he's being extremely optimistic when he calls himself middle aged!

There seems to be a real push over the past twenty years to extend all the "ages" in a strange way.

25 year olds who act like teenagers and blame it on youth. 30/40 year olds who aren't much better. And then 60 something year olds calling themselves middle aged.

I've frequently seen people on MN say that a person in their 70s isn't old!🥴 When you've hit the average age for death, we have to accept you might be old

I say Mold too

It's all relative. If you're 90, 35 is young. If you're 20, it's ancient.

It may depend whether you see age grouping as something driven by numbers, or whether you see it as a way of being. At 50 I don't feel old but I know I'm not young either.

I don't act like a teenager, but I'm not going to stop my outdoor adventures until my body forces me to. If it's a way of living, you can be old or young-old at 70. I still drive my body like I'm in my 20s.

I'm 56, so definitely more than halfway through my life realistically, but middle aged.
Aging has changed generationally. My Nana was in her late 50s when I was born, but was an old lady. Grey hair in a bun, mid calf tweedy skirts and classic fine knit jumpers or blouses. No makeup very little jewellery.
My mum was 67 when my son was born,she still coloured her hair, wore fashionable clothes, make up, etc, they had a great so I'll life.
At 56 I have a nearly 17 year old, work full time, go to gigs, dress in anything I fancy.

I've seen the term young old (possibly in Extra Time by Camilla Cavendish).
Sounds about right. I'm young old.

So would I! I'm 67 and classify myself as middle-aged. I have a friend who is 79 and is by no means "old" or "elderly" - they go to dancing classes and do Pilates and hiking. But at 79 they're also no longer middle aged, I feel. So what are they?

Of course, some unfortunate people do seem old at 60 and some never make it to 79. There is a huge variation in the "healthspan" of people.

It’s the age that makes you old. Not how fit etc. You could have a very fit 75 year old and they wouldn’t be middle aged. I’m in my 60s and I have no problem with being called old, despite being fit and active.

I wouldn't call 60 old. Once maybe it was, now, not so much. To me old by age is probably 70+. The period between 65-70 is a bit of a liminal one.

Why do we need to call it anything?

Even if we call it something, it's pretty meaningless. You can be a 70 year old who hikes miles each day or a 70 year old who has severe mobility issues. Classifying people into groups by age tells you nothing at this stage of life.

I remember when my Gran was 92, we were going to a family wedding so my mum and I took gran shopping for a dress. She hated everything the lady was showing her as it was all "old people's clothes". She never felt old until the month she died.

I’d still class it as middle aged tbh. I’m probably middle aged officially but I don’t consider early forties people to be “middle aged” if that makes sense.

I’d still think it’s middle age. Maybe upper middle age? Old - hmm that does make me think after 80.

Skaters. On thin ice

Crone or witch?

I’m 60 and my class of Year 3s think I’m ancient 🤣 (one asked me, quite seriously, if I knew Boudicca, so I’m going by that remark that I’m seen as ancient history 🤷‍♀️😬🤣)

I'm 62 and don't feel old.
I read a news report of an attack on a 61 yo lady and the comments were "Fancy attacking an elderly lady/pensioner" etc.

I don't feel elderly nor am I a pensioner but I suppose 20 somethings probably think I'm ancient.

I feel older than I am, at nearly 63, mid stage Parkinson’s, can’t work, and try not to envy the likes of you, pointless as neither of us can change things!
Luckily I have good support, and am ok, dearest cat too, it’s hard to accept my early 60s, are not what I hoped.

My Mum is 71 and currently touring Europe in a camper van.

Currently in Portugal after France and Spain.

I don't think 60 is old now.