To be surprised that 65+ is deemed ‘elderly’

[Helfs]

Off the back of another thread I wanted to see what the actual definition or classification of ‘elderly’ was and I was very surprised to see it defined as 65+

I always thought 80+ as being elderly so this has really surprised me. Especially looking at those I know around the 65-70 mark, they’re fit, healthy, living their best life and do not scream ‘elderly’ if you looked at them.

Personally I’ve always seen it as;
0-1 baby
1-3 toddler
3-13 child
13-19 - teenager
19-25 young adult
25-40 - adult
40-55 - Middle Aged

55-80 - old
80+ - elderly

So do you think this definition is fair on those who are 65, should the definition not evolve as life expectancies rise?

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.

Not one single country has an avg life expectancy of 90.

So it doesn’t really matter the people you know

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.

Being the opposite of the average does make it uncommon

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.

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

Any other wealthy eugenicists on here?

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

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.

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."

@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.

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.

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.

@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.

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

Sorry to pick on this poster in particular, but I knew as soon as I opened this thread it would be filled with old people adamant that they are not old! And yes 3 or 4 posts in, there it was. I didn't read any more of the thread as it's so predictable. Lots of "I'm fitter at 60 than most 30yr olds" etc etc. Yes sure you are.

I'm sorry but late 60's is old. You may feel younger in mind and body. But your age is late 60's which is old. I say that as someone in my mid 50's and yes I am firmly middled aged. Yes, I still travel and go to gigs, all sorts. That doesn't change my actual age.

The issue for me is, all these people are saying what they're saying because they are attributing stereotypes to various ages. Oh I'm not old because I'm doing all these things that "old people" don't do.

Your age is your age. You can't change it. So why even bother worrying whether you're classed as middle aged, old or elderly? Just do what you enjoy doing and be happy you're alive! Stop trying to insist "oh but I'm not old", it doesn't matter.

Some countries have an average life expectancy of 50s eg Lesotho in Africa

Some countries have a higher life expectancy like Japan

Therefore it depends where you live

Until recently UK women state retirement age was 60, now 66 jointly with men

Not everyone reaches old age

Definition of middle aged from the Oxford dictionary:

middle-aged

adjective

(of a person) aged about 45 to 65

Old age is a privilege, people should be buzzing they reach it.

I think 'older' people don't appear to be anywhere near as old as they were maybe 50 or so years ago. I can remember my grandmother,who was 65 when I was 5, looking positively ancient. This was in 1970. I know that when you're a young child,anyone over the age of 20 seems ancient! But my memory of her is backed up by photos of her. She looks more like an 85 year old today might look. By comparison,I know people who are in their mid 60s - mid 70s who still seem remarkably youthful.

But don't you think that a part of that is that styles have changed. Older women often used to go for those unflattering perms, although I guess they were more popular at the time. Likewise they might wear something like elasticated slacks. Where now we wear joggers or leggings. You need to really study the faces to decide if people genuinely look younger now or if it's more style based. Plus things like botox are more popular now which also somewhat skews perception.

I am pointing out that your need to offer me a grade on my comment and correct a word and my usage of it in a phrase - and announce it is silly (complete with a passive-aggressive 😂- is unnecessary and offensive to me.

Go correct someone else's posting style.

To clarify, I didn’t correct you nor comment on your posting style nor your individual use of a word. I disagreed with the sentiment of what you said. I felt the comparison ruined your point which I had agreed with. Anyway, I apologise. It clearly landed far worse than I intended. I’m sorry it came across that way and it was not my intention.
I genuinely didn’t realise and there was no intention to tell you how to post! I definitely overuse the 😂 emoji and it was out of context. Apologies again, I will leave it there as it was not intentional and this is an interesting thread, so I don’t want to derail.

Oh? So when you wrote this, you were not making a "comment on your posting style nor your individual use of a word"...

@Helfs You can't count the 20 years that you are growing up. Early adulthood starts around 20, so if life expectancy is 80 then middle age is 40 to 60, but it has been extended to 45 to 65 due to many people now living to 90 and the increased potential and life expectancy.

Medically, 65 is classed as elderly. My GP told me that. I'm 65 and don't give a toss about being described elderly