To ask if you will be happy in the future to be referred to as an old dear or an old bag?

[GeorgianaDevonshire]

Or an old trout, a woman of a certain age, an old hag?

If you won't be happy with such a description then don't use it now and don't tolerate other people saying it either.

It occurs a lot on Mumsnet, it's nasty and we should report it and MNHQ delete.

I don't know but if anyone calls me "flower" in hospital - as happened to my fully alert and frankly scary MIL - "have we finished our cup of tea flower?" - I hope I'll put them right.

I'm trying to figure this out as I'm in the WI, the organisation has a terrible image problem, but only because society is so negative about women over, well the age when you let your hair go grey? It just has to be a joke because how could they ever do anything apart from knitting and drinking tea?

I'm 45 but I'm wondering how do we women let ourselves get written off as "old dears" when we could have a third or even half of our adult life ahead of us?

It exasperates me to keep having to say it, but you shouldn't say "old" if you wouldn't say "black". Or "Jewish", "gay" or "Muslim".

A black woman stuck her head in my baby's pram!!!

The homosexual in front was going too slowly.

Jews are a bit dim.

Would you???

But there does seem to be that look of total disgust at your screaming child that only a old bag person of age can truly pull off."

Presumably you haven't spent much time in the presence of childless 20 somethings