Having a fall…or falling

I’m also 73 and it’s not unusual for me to fall over my own feet or unseen obstacles, but “have a fall”, never.
I also find being called “dear” is pretty patronising, and don’t get me started on “bless”!

I've often wondered if there is an official age at which you stop falling over and instead have a fall.

I am 61 I tripped over the hoover in my daughters kitchen last year (left carelessly in the middle of the floor) no injury sustained and this year tripped over one of the kids toys left in the hall. I call these trips she keeps referring to them as “falls” it drives me insane! She lectures every day on older people and risk and makes out that I am about 108 with senile dementia😡 she has recently qualified as a nurse and thinks it makes her an expert on my health😡

bonbons01

Perhaps this ought to be in pedant's corner as it's not even grammatically correct.
You fall.
You fell.
You have fallen.

Just to be a completely daft tease here, but should that be pedant's corner or pedants'? After all there is more than one pedant!

Oh Frogs - what bad luck (I am SO lucky that did not happen to me). Have an uneventful Christmas. And better luck in 2026.

I could trip over a matchstick, I'm so clumsy. 3 years ago, I was 74 and got my foot caught under a pipe left exposed in my garden after they installed a new oil tank. I face planted the path and broke my femur. In hospital they kept saying I had a fall so I kept saying I didn't I tripped over a new pipe in the garden. Every time they said had a fall I corrected them. When I left hospital I was contacted by the 'at risk' team to ask what help I needed for every day day life. All because they wouldn't accept I am just clumsy !

DD1 had a fall in the playground at school when she was about eight. It was a splat and the school called me to tell me not to be alarmed when I saw her face when I collected her at home time because the bloody messes were only shallow grazes and she was fine.

When I saw her she was grinning and I said "Oh my!" also with a grin.

I could also say DD1 fell in the playground. The difference doesn't strike me as changing the meaning.

I've had lots of falls throughout my life/I've fallen loads throughout my life. Take your pick.

I tend to disagree on this one. If a 3 year old falls over he's up again in seconds, 99.9% of the time, no ill effects at all.
If you're over 70 it can be quite serious. I for one to start with can't get up off the floor unaided. Cf Jilly Cooper. Saying someone had a fall implies some injury so no need of some rigmarole like " she fell over and banged her head and because she is 75 it's quite serious". The good old English language with all its implications.

I don’t like the expression ‘having a fall’ either.
I broke my hip in the summer after I tripped on a broken slab. Since then I’ve attended several appointments at ‘Geriatric’ clinics at my local hospital. Can’t say I like that word much either 😡☹️

Having a fall is a hateful phrase. I prefer to think that people fall, fall down, fall over.....even fall about, not unlike Norman Wisdom.

However, if someone falls down a lot and one fall follows another as far as your medical records show, then I'll accept that 'having a/nother fall' would be a fitting description and maybe prompt some investigation.

And 'sprightly'. That always sounds like something used to describe someone showing a rather surprising level of fitness. A reluctant compliment perhaps!

Is a Falls Clinic run by Norman Wisdom I wonder?

I've never been described as "sprightly" but was surprised to see A*E notes describing me as "fragile" or "extremely vulnerable". I didn;t feel very fragile at the time - I guess it's medical terminology for various "states".

nanasam

That's one of my pet hates! I don't mind falling over but no way will I ever have a fall. The other one is being called 'sprightly' SPRIGHTLY????? Don't you dare call me that!

I so agree with you! I remember telling my husband once that if anyone referred to me as ‘sprightly’, I would not be responsible for my actions, but it might involve missing teeth! Dreadful word!

I'm an expert at turning my ankle over, measuring my length on the ground, and I've been doing it all my life. Consequently I don't consider it "having a fall".

I ended up on my bum in the road the other night - the drive was OK but the road was slick with frost when I went to cross it. I didn't fall - I slid and sat down hard!

I agree with those who've said that tripping or slipping etc is not the same as keeling over for no obvious reason.

I'm only in my 60s but I've still said myself that I "had a fall". I didn't see it in any particular way. But I do have mobility problems so to me it is having a fall (or a near fall). Fell over is something different really perhaps? I think anyone can "have a fall" - whether it's off a mountain or in the bathroom! I tripped and banged my head a few years ago and had to go to A&E because I'm on blood thinners, and they referred me to the "falls team" who sent me a leaflet with a number if I wanted support. I did laugh at that and think - I'm not that bad - but they do treat it as a serious risk.

I fall over for a reason. I go over on my ankle on other than on flat surface, I trip over my feet, I step off a step stool thinking I am on the bottom step, when I am two up. My feet go from under me on a grassy slope.

I have never 'had a fall'

I slipped on wet leaves last week and broke my hip, the surgeon called me robust, I didn’t have a fall.

Whenever I heard the clinical term ‘the Falls Team’ I would conjure up visions of dizzy acrobats tumbling about ……..

Grrr - yes. I tripped on a sunken/raised paving stone that the car parked half on the pavement and someone's overgrown garden left me little choice but to walk over. It was a nasty fall. I am training myself to pay more attention to my surroundings and exercising for balance and leg/core strength. - I've been a bit inattentive recently - lots of attention needed for DH and DD. BUT I am not Sprightly or Folk and did not 'have a fall' - you can guess the fate of anyone who suggests I did!

This is something I too find really annoying. My then 92 year old Aunt "had a fall". She actually fell over and broke her wrist because the non-slip "safety" slippers the Health Visitor insisted on failed to slide on her carpet (as she was used to) when she went to answer the door. At 95 she fell several times because she refused to use her newly provided walking frame as they were for "old people".

I fell twice about twenty years ago, both falls caused by badly maintained pavements. I am of the age when falling will be automatically labelled having a fall. My balance is excellent. I can stand for long periods on one leg. However, twice recently I have just managed to catch myself as a leg gave way. Nothing to do with balance or age. It is a known problem with a tendon which started 30 over years ago.

The last time I fell was probably 15 years ago thick ice and a 8 st Boxer dog trying to help me up totally ar*e over apex.
As I get older I exercise to keep a stronger core I also practice getting down on the floor and up again hands free.

You know the difference when you fall if you are young people will probably laugh and tell you to take more water with it. When you are older people run to help to see if you are ok.

I haven’t fallen over for a few years now (and when I did it had nothing to do with age) - but if and when I ever do again, it I won’t have ‘had a fall’ - woe betide anyone who dares to say so!

BTW, re balance, the physio a dd booked for me after I was left a bit wobbly after pneumonia, gave a sheet of exercises which included this to aid balance:

March on the spot for 50 paces, but swing the opposite arm to the leg for each pace - R arm, Left leg etc.

Is it when you fall over for no reason that you have a fall. My mum used to do this frequently in her last few years.
People fall over because they've tripped on something, slipped or just lost their footing on stairs for instance. That's not having a fall.

Nobody has a fall.