Word! The Language Column  Old and older

Christiane Rösinger focuses on an unfortunately common form of linguistic discrimination today: ageism. How does this belittling of old people work? And why is it often associated with natural disasters?

We are all getting older – and at the same time, ageism is the form of discrimination of the moment. So it’s high time to take a closer look at linguistic ageism.

Old people are to blame – really?

Alarmist speeches about demographic developments have been heard for a long time. The processes of vocabulary development and word formation around “age” that we have been observing since the 1990s are evidence of ageist language use.

Old age itself is always described as a deficit model – but the elderly are also blamed for the breakdown of the intergenerational contract. The unpleasant notion of an “over-aged society” blames the elderly for problematic demographic change because of the burden it places on pension systems. The constituent “over” suggests something that is not normal.

It is not only longer life expectancy that is leading to this change, but also the low birth rate. But no one is talking about an “under-youth” in the day-care scene.

As threatening as a flood

Phrases such as “pensioner boom” and “demographic time bomb” suggest a threatening situation. In the case of “pensioner flood”, “pensioner tide“ and “senior citizen avalanche”, overwhelming natural phenomena are used on a linguistic level, which have already proved their worth as negative descriptions of international refugee movements.
The neologisms give the impression that those entitled to a decent pension are facing an unforeseeable natural disaster. A catastrophe against which they must protect themselves. This negative description of the elderly is based on a capitalist view of humanity – a resource-based, meritocratic view.
On the other hand, the “new old”, who enjoy their lives as wealthy, fit, good consumers, have a somewhat more positive connotation. However, their parasitic existence as pensioners deceives the younger generation.

Of old crooks and old fools

There are hardly any words for the non-discriminatory use of the word “old”. “Old” is only good for objects: old wine, old cognac, old coins, old silver. In relation to a person of the male gender, “old” can also be used in an appreciative and affectionate way: old crook, old friend, old Swede, old house.

For a female, on the other hand, the formula “old + name = swear word” is a good choice: old box, old saddlecloth, old frigate, old maid, old witch, old broom, and so on.

Interestingly, the laws of comparison are suspended with the adjective “old”. In the absolute comparative, an old woman is younger than an old man. In other words, we never grow old, we only grow older. To describe oneself as a person who is no longer young, without using the negative “old”, there are only euphemisms such as “50 plus”, “late youth” or “in the early autumn of life“. Fortunately, the marketing pseudo-anglicisms “golden ager”, “silver ager”, “mid ager” and “best ager” have never really caught on.

Problematic group names

The English “senior citizen” sounds more respectful – but the German equivalent “ältere Mitbürger” has negative connotations. Similarly, “older workers” is not a neutral term, but the name of a problem group.

As is so often the case when groups are described too carefully, such as “people from a migrant background”, this leads to marginalisation. After all, we are not talking about “young citizens” and “people without a migration background”, “male fellow citizens” and certainly not “recipients of unearned income from a parental background”. 

February 2025