Senior Citizens are also known as …
As
one associated the cause of senior citizens for a number of years I have come
across different words that refer to the aged people. I would like to give a quick run down of a
few such terms for the benefit of budding gerontologists as that would help
them in literature searches. Following
table lists words and phrases that are synonymous to each other.
Words denoting Senior Citizens
Aged
|
Baby
boomers
|
Centenarian
|
Elders
and elderly (respectful)
|
Ex-servicemen
|
Ex-servicemen
-one who has served the armed forces for a number of years
|
Geezers - An old person, especially an eccentric
old man. Derogatory usage
|
Golden
ager
|
Golden
ager – just Older person
|
Grey-haired
|
Grizzled
|
Hoary
|
Nonagenarian
|
Octogenarian
|
Old
Aged Person (=OAP)
|
Old
hang – highly experienced old person
|
Old
stager - someone who has seen many battles & wars
|
Old
timer - used earlier for old people.
|
Older
persons - Government of India's preferred term for senior citizens.
|
Oldies
|
Oldies
–a lot to do with appreciation of music of certain period.
|
Oldster - slightly uncommon derisive word
|
Pensioners
- Those who get a monthly subsistence after retirement
|
Retired
person (retiree)
|
Retired
persons - One who has retied from
active serve
|
Retirees
-one who has retired from active life
|
Senesced
-to reach later maturity; grow old
|
Senile
|
Senior
citizens - Politest term devoid any contempt
|
Septuagenarian
|
Superannuated
|
Unyoung
|
Venerable
|
Veterans
- Ex service men in the USA
|
Woopies
|
Wrinklies
|
According to answers.com: Old is the bluntest of the adjectives most
commonly used in referring to advanced or advancing age. It generally suggests
at least a degree of age-related infirmity, and for that reason it is often
avoided in formal or polite speech. Many prefer elderly as a more neutral and
respectful term, but it too can suggest frailty, especially in reference to
individuals as opposed to a group or population. And while senior enjoys wide
usage as both a noun and adjective in many civic or social contexts, it is
often considered unpleasantly euphemistic in a phrase such as the senior couple
living next door.
As a comparative form,
older would logically seem to indicate greater age than old. Except when a
direct comparison is being made, however, the opposite is generally true. “The
older man in the tweed jacket: suggests a somewhat younger or more vigorous man
than if one substitutes old or elderly. Where old expresses an absolute, an
arrival at old age, older takes a more relative view of aging as a
continuum—older, but not yet old. As such, older is more than just a euphemism
for the blunter old, offering as it does a more precise term for someone
between middle and advanced age. And unlike elderly, older does not
particularly suggest frailness or infirmity, making it the natural choice in
many situations.
The world Elder merely means “older than” not necessarily ‘old’.
But ELDERS and the elderly refer to senior citizens with some respect
implied. Unlike elder and its related
forms, the adjectives old, older, and oldest are applied to things as well as
to persons.
Baby boomers: In the US
there was sudden (predictable?!) boom in babies after the war. The period 1946
to 1964 witnessed maximum number of births. In the 1990s, approximately 76
million people in the United States were born in the baby boom years,
representing approximately 29% of the country's population. America being a
market and consumer driven nation took special note of this segment of
population for their special needs. Hence the category baby boomers.
It would be interesting to do similar
comparisons in other languages as well. If readers have useful inputs they may
share it with all via comments.
Updated on 25 February 2019 (date input
automatically when file is edited / modified)
(Original was first published in Feb 2014)
(Original was first published in Feb 2014)
Read contrary views expressed in
