# the elderly



## ThomasK

How do you commonly refer to 'old people' ? Any euphemisms ? (Please explain)

In Dutch: we never say 'de ouden' but 
- *'bejaarden'* (of years)
- *'ouderen'* (elderly, also with comparative)
- *oudjes'* (diminutive) 
- *'op leeftijd'* (of age - we even have to distinguish between leeftijd (age, life-time) and ouderdom (old age, 'oldness')
- *'senioren'* (hiding age by using Latin...)
etc. 

I believe 'die Alten' can be used in German, but I am not so sure... 

Your list might be endless, but any are welcome.


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## enoo

In France, 
- *une personne âgée* - an old person (aged person), maybe the most common word
- *un sénior* - same as above, and same as "senioren" I guess
- *un vieillard/une vieillarde* (m./f.) - an old man (lit. an 'oldy/older' ?)
- *un vieux/une vieille* - an 'old' (m./f.) - collocial and a bit pejorative
- *un ancien* (m.) - an old man
- *le troisième âge* - the 3rd age, that is, around 65 and older - often used in "formal" context.
- *le quatrième âge*" - the 4rd age, for persons over 90. (This is an approximation, I don't think there's an official definition of this anywhere)
- *mes vieux* - my 'olds', my parents, colloquial but not so pejorative. (of course the possessive part can be changed)

Sometimes, *grand-mère*/*grand-père* (grand-mother/grand-father) or *mémé*/*mamie* / *pépé*/*papy* (granny / grandpa) in a colloquial and perjorative way. (e.g. at a traffic light, the light is green and the car ahead don't move, the driver is likely to be called that way)


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## apmoy70

In Greek:
-*Elderly*-->Ηλικιωμένοι (ilicio'meni, _m. pl._), lit. "of age"; the most common word
-*Old man/woman*-->γέρος ('ʝeros, _m._; from the ancient Greek γέρων-'ʝĕrōn, _m._, "the old man"), γριά (ɣri'a, _f._; from the ancient Greek γραία-'ɣraiă, _f._, "the old woman")
-*3rd age*-->Τρίτη ηλικία ('triti ili'cia, lit. 3rd age); άνθρωποι της τρίτης ηλικίας ('anθropi tis 'tritis ili'cias)-->people of 3rd age
-*My olds* (my parents)--> οι γέροι μου (i 'ʝeri mu, _m. pl_); ο γέρος μου (o 'ʝeros mu, _m._)-->my old man (my father); η γριά μου (i ɣri'a mu, _f._)-->my old woman (my mother). Very colloquial speech.

Like in French, sometimes we refer to old people (over 70) unknown to us, as «γιαγιά» (ʝa'ʝa, _f._-->grand ma) or «παππούς» (pa'pus, _m._-->grand pa). Although it is considered very colloquial speech (or rude) it is not pejorative.

[ɣ] is a voiced velar fricative
[c] is a voiceless palatal plosive
[ʝ] is a voiced palatal fricative
[θ] is a voiceless dental non-sibilant fricative


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## ThomasK

@enoo: *veillard/ vieux, vieille* - Interesting observation how the ending can change a lot. Could veillard also imply something like _getting older_ (based on veillir), which might then imply that is not just a fact but an evolution (which is euphemistic of course)? 
@Apmoy: is _*'ʝĕrōn*_ just descriptive, and does it not carry any connotation? Can it in any way be considered a euphemism ?

I did forget about _*derde en vierde leeftijd*_ (3rd/ 4th age), which is a perfect euphemism. Interestingly some people have felt the urge to introduce the 'fourth age', in my view because being called 'third age' was no longer euphemistic enough. I admit that people getting older has contributed to that, but still, I think the euphemism no longer appeared  euphemistic enough to some people.


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## sakvaka

I can figure up only two common expressions: _vanhukset_ (old ones) and _seniorit_ (seniors). The latter is used, for example, in train tickets as a discount price category.

In her column, published in Helsingin Sanomat on 28.12.1999, _Taru Kolehmainen_ talks about the means of covering one's old age. She mentiones the euphemisms _ikäihminen _(age person), _kolmas ikä_ (third age), _seniori_, _veteraani_ (veteran), _kultainen ikä_ (golden age), _ikinuori_ (everyoung), _varttunut_ (upgrown), _kypsään ikään ehtinyt_ (the one who has reached a mature age) and _harmaa pantteri_ (grey panther). I think she has made up the last one.  I haven't heard of _kolmas ikä_ and _harmaa pantteri_.

Source: http://www.kotus.fi/index.phtml?s=1190 (you can try it with Google translate)


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## ThomasK

How interesting. Funny though that the euphemisms seem uncommon to you. You do mean that you do not hear the euphemisms very often (and some even never), don't you? _(This is one of the most important aspects of this thread to me, that is why...)_


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## apmoy70

ThomasK said:


> @Apmoy: is _*'ʝĕrōn*_ just descriptive, and does it not carry any connotation? Can it in any way be considered a euphemism ?


_*'ʝeros *_(and not _*'ʝĕrōn*_; the latter sounds too archaic, although it can be used in written formal speech) is just a descriptive noun without any further connotation.

_*'ʝĕrōn *_is cognate with other IE languages: _Ossetic-->z_ārond, _Ancient Hindi-->_járant 

PS: Now that I read your post and sakvaka's about euphemisms, I just remembered a TV cliché phrase when referring to the elderly:
«οι απόμαχοι της ζωής»
i a'pomaçi tis zo'is (_m. pl._)
lit. "the veterans of life"

[ç] is a voiceless palatal fricative


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## ThomasK

I think I'll dream about becoming a grey panther (_the grey is on the way already_), a veteran of life, a member of the golden age (_is there hope for my hair to turn golden?),_ etc. ?


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## Encolpius

There are 2 words for old in *Hungarian*, the word öreg is use for things (öreg autó = old car) and usually pejoratively for people too (öreg ember = old man), and the word idős which is used only for people and it is not pejorative. So elderly is *öregek *(not recommended) or *idősek *[come from the word idő = time].


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## Maroseika

Apart from just 'old' (старый) in Russian we use пожилой - lit. smth. like 'the one having lived'.
Another (bookish or bureaucratic) word is престарелый - the word of the same stem as just 'old' but more soft.


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## sakvaka

ThomasK said:


> How interesting. Funny though that the euphemisms seem uncommon to you. You do mean that you do not hear the euphemisms very often (and some even never), don't you? _(This is one of the most important aspects of this thread to me, that is why...)_



Actually I do hear them, but when I first wrote my post, the word _vanhus_ just kept on staying in my head.  People of my age (you understand what I'm talking about) just call them with that word. We don't start looking for euphemisms. I do understand it's not very polite: _Hey, old man, whadda you doing?_, but probably my language changes after I've got some thirty years more and dropped the most of my hair. Then I'll surely want to be called_ everyoung_.


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## Hakro

> ... but probably my language changes after I've got some thirty years more and dropped the most of my hair. Then I'll surely want to be called_ everyoung_.


I liked this!


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## enoo

ThomasK said:


> @enoo: *veillard/ vieux, vieille* - Interesting observation how the ending can change a lot. Could veillard also imply something like _getting older_ (based on veillir), which might then imply that is not just a fact but an evolution (which is euphemistic of course)?



Well, no, "vieillard" is just a way of saying "someone that is old", no evolution in the 'state of oldness'. My word "oldy" was an attempt at finding a litteral translation.
It seems that the -ard suffix can be used in different ways. I knew mostly of the "make something pejorative" one (an example that works in English too: soûl/drunk - soûlard/drunkard) but it seems it can be used just to create nouns out of adjectives/other nouns, without pejorative meaning.

On the other hand, vieux/vieilles have a neutral meaning when used as adjectives, but are a little bit pejorative when used as nouns ("Une vieille femme" - an old woman, neutral. "Une vieille" - same but less neutral. Oh... and "Une petite vieille" - a small old woman, this one is not pejorative. Go figure...)


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## ThomasK

Sorry about my mistake. I just thought it made sense, etymologically, not in the present meaning. But indeed, _soûlard_ is a good example proving the opposite. Too bad it did not work out ! ;-)


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## merquiades

In English:  you can talk about "seniors", "senior citizen", "elders", "the elderly".  I personally like the expression "the golden years".  Other eufemisms "to be 80 years young" sounds funny.
Old, old folks, old age doesn't sound very nice anymore

In Spanish:  ser una persona "mayor", "muy mayor" [(very) grown up].  Also, "la tercera edad" (the 3rd age) like in French
Negative.  Anciano/a/os/as


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## mataripis

Tagalog: matatanda  or   "Mga Gurang"


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## Encolpius

So far I have learnt there are three languages using two different words for the adjective old (Hungarian, Portuguese and Romanian). The first one is used for things and the second one for people. So, to answer your question I have to add, *Portuguese *say: *os idosos* and *Romanians*: *bătrâni *[from L: veteranus].


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## ThomasK

What do the Tagalog words mean exactly, please? And 'idosos'?


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## Encolpius

os idosos means "the elderly"....


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## merquiades

Encolpius said:


> os idosos means "the elderly"....



Yes, literally from "idade" (age), so "the aged".


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## mataripis

ThomasK said:


> What do the Tagalog words mean exactly, please? And 'idosos'?


  The word "Matatanda" means old age/aged people.The root word is "Tanda" ( mark/ symbol of many years). The word "Gurang" is an old term for "old" (antiquity).It is related to word "Guru" of Devanagari (Guro' in Tagalog meaning teacher) . The number of years are proofs of many experiences in life and this may help others to learn from their past experiences in their life.Note: It is informal to use the term "gurang" to most Filipinos. Matatanda is more accepted.


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## ThomasK

Thanks, that makes it clear. So no euphemisms at all, just the truth, 'straightforward'... ;-) I am just surprised there are not more common euphemisms !


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## Encolpius

If you want more expressions, in Hungarian you can say: idős, idősödő, öregedő, korosodó, éltes, szépkorú [I like that, szép "beuatiful" + korú "aged"], meglett korú, hajlott korú, etc..


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## aruniyan

Words for elderly in Tamil* - 


MoothOr*(elderly) - Matured 
*VayathaaNOr*(aged) - Became aged
*Kilavan/Kilavi*(Old man/Old woman) - I think, Without leaving the place.
*PeriyOr* - Big people


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