Language issue: What to call older people?
August 8th, 2007My work revolves around media for the 50+ market–especially startups. Oddly enough, publications, websites and radio programs all require. . .names. That leads to marathon branding debates on this question: what words are best to describe people in middle age and beyond? This has become a tricky problem 
as Boomers hit midlife, since we’re so self-conscious about age and in a state of extreme denial. Clearly we are not seniors, elders, or old in any respect…and never will be. The best approach is to go “ageless”–just talk about the subject at hand, and interested audiences will turn up. But that doesn’t work in all situations.
How do people who write about aging for a living deal with the problem? Our friend Paul Kleyman of the American Society on Aging wanted to find out. So he surveyed the Journalists’ Exchange on Aging (which he runs). “This project started when about 40 reporters got into a vigorous discussion about the language of aging during the JEoA meeting held in Philadelphia in March 2005,” Kleyman reports in a recent issue of AgeBeat, his e-mail newsletter. The debate led to an online survey, with responses coming from about 100 journalists. The survey revealed the following preferred synonyms:
- Boomers. OK to use, but not with baby (we’re not) and some worry that it’s an over-used term.
- Elder. A good word but not for anyone under 65.
- Middle-age. Use it descriptively (”those in middle age) but “avoid references to middle-aged, which tends to lump people with a group label.”
- Midlife. “In his “On Language” column (May 6,2007), William Safire favors the word midlife, which he traces to the “impeccable coinage source, John Keats, in his 1818 poem “Endymion.” Safire anoints the term as not a euphemism but “a usefulism.”
Least-liked terms: baby boomers, elderly, senior citizens, aging, mature or old.
Full results of the survey are here. An article about the survey ran recently in the Christian Science Monitor.
August 13th, 2007 at 9:10 am
We have an even bigger problem in the UK as the term baby boomer is not regularly used. Also the problem with baby boomer is that it refers to a date of birth not an age. It therefore has a limited lifespan.
We have created an organisation called “in my prime” which we think reflects better the 50-70 age bracket (see http://www.inmyprime.co.uk). Inhabitants of this time bracket can therefore be called inmyprimers, primers, primetimers etc.
We also have a book recently released called “Primetastic!”
August 16th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
We tomatoes refer to ourselves as “women who aren’t kids.”
August 26th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
I’m no old. I’m just chronologically advantaged.
August 26th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
hmm.. Seems I need to learn to spell “not”.