My doctor called me 'An elderly Lady.'

Franbern

Sorry - am I missing something. What on earth is wrong with being called 'elderly'? Surely, it is purely a term for people who have lived something like 65 plus years. Nothing to do with your medical condition, how you look, colour of hair, of clothes being worn.

Of course, I am elderly (80 yrs old in a couple of months), what difference does that make to anything I can or, indeed, cannot do, etc.

Oh come off it
“Elderly” is a loaded term.
You may not think it, but it is.

Connotations of frail, dithering, past it

Don’t mind baby boomer, don’t even mind old fart (hopefully in a jokey sense), but elderly - don’t you dare!

At 21, my boss dressed like a middle aged, although only 15 years older than me.
Sadly, he lived only a short time after retirement.
But he seemed to think"old"
There was a time when I thought that 60 was elderly or old.
then it was 70; and then 80,
Now I tend to refer to ladies in their 90s as "elderly".

Age tends to be an attitude of mind.
Thinking and living as a a Young at Heart tends to extend the lifespan, in many cases.

It reminds me of when my mum, aged 70, confronted a mugger who was trying to rob an 'elderly' gentleman. She wacked him with her brolly (not the elderly gentleman!) She was described as a very brave 'elderly' lady - she was so upset!

I embraced being an old lady once I reached 60. It’s just a statement of fact, really. My sister, who’s a few years younger, is forever telling me she ‘refuses to get old’, but however young an outlook on life you keep, the years will affect your body eventually!

I’ve been told to lose weight by doctors so often, that I’ve started saying I suffer from FOLS - Fat Old Lady Syndrome!

I remember having my last baby I was described as a geriatric pregnancy.... First time I get called elderly might finish me off!

This is plain daft, Venus! Of course you're an elderly lady in your mid seventies!

Is it the word “elderly “ that’s objected to, or being acknowledged as an older person? If it’s the word, well yes it’s a bit dated, perhaps pejorative, but hardly intentionally rude. Perhaps a gentle comment that it’s a dated term might be possible if anyone is really offended by it? If the second, then perhaps an honest reflection about how we feel about ageing is helpful?

I’m 62, still working (for Age UK as it happens, so very conscious of ageism), proudly wear my natural hair colour (so many lovely shades of silver!) which allows me to wear gorgeous colours that never looked right with my mousey brown hair, and am enjoying entering my later years. As I’d like to think I might live till, say, 90, I’m conscious of transitioning into the Third Age. Looking forward to retirement, though it will be on a very modest budget, to my bus pass, to joining groups - including university of the third age no doubt! - and to whatever it brings. However, I’m also aware of the passage of time and its effect on my body, and I know I’ve reached that particular age for medical attention. I’ll possibly be labelled elderly when I finally get an appointment about my increasingly painful knees. Whatevs.

As several other grans have noted, it feels a privilege to have lived long enough to earn the status, my dear dad having died at the age of 53, and I hope to live as well as I can for as long as I can. And hopefully not use equally ageist terms, like “young enough to be a schoolgirl”, which is surely demeaning about a professional person we’re entrusting with our care? ?

Bring on the positive ageing!!

I just tell myself that no single cell in my body is over five. Of course I might exaggerate.

I really see nothing wrong with the word 'elderly! No, I don't think that the word is loaded or pejorative. It's a statement of fact.
Personally, I certainly don't like any of the alternative expressions (senior citizen!) any better.

No, none of us like getting older, and, especially if we still feel fit and active, would rather that we were still classified as middl-aged, but we are not - that ship has sailed.

Are those ofyou who are adamant that the word 'elderly doesn't /shouldn't apply to you are going to put of claiming your state pension until you do think you are elderly?

I think elderly describes someone of at least 70 or really 75. This is because many people are much more young at heart these days until much longer. People wear normal clothes (don’t go into a uniform of all black clothes, or even worse a uniform of Mrs Brown of Mrs Brown’s Boys, type of cardigans.) I have of friend of 78 who doesn’t seem elderly, although obviously she is elderly. With many more people living into their 90s these days, I think the term elderly needs to apply to much older people. I don’t think people in their 60s can be described as elderly nowadays.

I’m 70, I have long (well kept, not Mary Beard style bless her) hair, wear light makeup every day and jeans. I drive a sports car. In the queue for my flu jab yesterday I saw a lot of elderly people, some of whom may well have been younger than me. Elderly I am not. However I do recognise that bad health, poverty and a hard life trying to manage on very little can be very ageing so I don’t judge. I’m very fortunate to be able to not look elderly.

A few years ago a doctor wrote about me
"this 83 year old lady is self caring and active" so managed to avoid the ekderly or old description.

Elderly is quite OK if it’s used as a Generic description, how else would you describe an old person.

A Doctor should use the factual age ie “an 83 yr old lady” or not mention age at all, in a report to another medic. I’d do remember mum being described as a “pleasant lady”, then listing all her ailments

My Consultant described me as a contented lady in a letter to the GP. I can see that being called elderly out of the blue can give you quite a jolt but it isn't really unreasonable if you are past 70 surely.There are as many different kinds of over 70's about as there are for any age. Unfortunately lovely hair and fashionable clothes don't help much with the aches and pains most people seem to have.

Oh I know lulu. I have aches and pains aplenty due to osteoarthritis, which I have had since I was 21, and other health conditions including asthma, but try to make the best of things. I try to cover the grimace with a smile!

I was called an elderly primigravidae at aged 26 when having my first child. I did not know what it meant and was not pleased until I was told it meant elderly first-time mother.
I wonder when that term applies now when most have their babies much later than we did in the '70s.
I still do not like being called elderly or on the eve of my 70+ birthday being told another nail in the coffin as I was yesterday by H certainly not DH at the time. One that will take a long time to forget and hard not to retaliate or maybe I will. I'll call him my toy boy until he catches me up next year.

Yammy I remember that so well ha ha. I was 23 when I had my first baby. I don't remember what I was called but I do remember the doctor ticking the second box!!

love0c

Yammy I remember that so well ha ha. I was 23 when I had my first baby. I don't remember what I was called but I do remember the doctor ticking the second box!!

I went home thinking I was an elderly monkey I thought it was something to do with primates. I thought 26 was bad what you must have thought at 23, yet they would have condemned us if we had got pregnant at 16.

Or that wonderful expression - at your age .

Fear not, do you remember that face cream that promised to deal with the Seven Signs of Ageing?
Would that be forgetfulness, creaky joints, bit of a midriff bulge, swollen ankles, incontinence, flatulence, and grey hair? ????????,

I'm 70. I had an appointment for a general checkup a few years back and was told it was in our local hospital Care of the Elderly department. When I attended I complained about the name to the doctor, and said it should be changed. And I then apologised for my sight not being good as I had put ear drops in my eyes by mistake.

??????????

I hate the term “elderly”. When I get to 100 then people can call me elderly but until then they had better run if they mention the word!!!

Also I have some dark spots appear on my skin and the dr said that they were associated with people getting old. I am 69 and not ready to be called elderly!