2020-11-19
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด O – old & older
การใช้ภาษาอังกฤษ ที่ถือว่า ถูกต้องนี้ เป็นไปตามมาตรฐานการใช้ภาษา
การใช้คำอังกฤษ ไม่กำหนดมาตฐาน ถือตามส่วนใหญ่ที่ใช้แต่ละท้องถิ่น
ความหมาย อาจยืดหยุ่น ขึ้นอยู่กับ ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค
Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง old = ‘OHLD’
ออกเสียง elder = ‘EL-der’
Dictionary.com
SYNONYM STUDY FOR OLD
Old, aged, elderly all mean well along in years.
An old person has lived long, nearly tothe end of the usual period of life. An aged person is very far advanced in years,
and is usually afflicted with the infirmities of age.
An elderly person is somewhat old,
but usually has the mellowness, satisfactions, and joys of age ahead.
BRITISH DICTIONARY DEFINITIONS FOR ELDER
USAGE FOR ELDER
The word elder is being increasingly used,
as a more respectful way of referring to older people:
elder care, elder abuse
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Choose the Right Synonym for old
Adjective
OLD, ANCIENT, VENERABLE, ANTIQUE, ANTIQUATED, ARCHAIC, OBSOLETE mean having come into existence or use in the more or less distant past.
OLD may apply to either actual or merely relative length of existence. old houses an old sweater of mine
ANCIENT applies to occurrence, existence, or use in or survival from the distant past. ancient accounts of dragons
VENERABLE stresses the impressiveness and dignity of great age. the family's venerable patriarch
ANTIQUE applies to what has come down from a former or ancient time. collected antique Chippendale furniture
ANTIQUATED implies being discredited or outmoded or otherwise inappropriate to the present time. antiquated teaching methods
ARCHAIC implies having the character or characteristics of a much earlier time. the play used archaic language to convey a sense of period
OBSOLETE may apply to something regarded as no longer acceptable or useful even though it is still in existence. a computer that makes earlier models obsolete
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language
Usage Note:
Old, when applied to people,
is a blunt term that usually suggests at least
a degree of physical infirmity and age-related restrictions.
It should be used advisedly,
especially in referring to people advanced in years but leading active lives.
As a comparative form,
older might logically seem to indicate greater age than old,
but in most cases the opposite is true.
A phrase such as the older woman in the wool jacket
suggests a somewhat younger person than if old is substituted. Where old expresses an absolute, an arrival at old age,
older takes a more relative view of aging as a continuum
—older, but not yet old.
As such, older is not just aeuphemism for the blunter old
but rather a more precise term for someone between middle and advanced age.
And unlike elderly,
older does not particularly suggestfrailness or infirmity,
making it the natural choice in many situations.
See Usage Note at elder1.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language
el′der·ship′ n.
Usage Note:
In comparisons between two persons,
the adjective elder is simply a more formal term for "older"
and has no implication of advanced age:
My elder sibling is fourteen; my younger is nine.
In other contexts it does denote relatively oldage,
but with the added component of respect for a person's position
or achievement:
an elder statesman; an elder member of the court.
If the simple fact of advanced or relatively advanced age is the point,
older or elderly are usually more appropriate than elder:
a survey of older Americans; an elderly waiter.
As with the adjective, the noun elder
can be used comparatively without implying old age:
He is my elder by three years.
It can also refer to an office in certain churches or, more broadly,
to a position of authority or respect conferred by age and experience:
an elder in the Presbyterian Church;
a tribal elder.
The use of elder in the sense of "an elderly person"
is uncommon in contemporary English,
though it is widely used as an attributive in such phrases as
elder care (or eldercare) and elder services.
See Usage Note at old.
Collins COBUILD English Usage
1. 'old'
Old is most commonly used for describing the age of a person or thing. For example, you say that someone 'is forty years old'.
Legally, witnesses must be at least fourteen years old.
They found bits of bone which are three-and-a-half million years old.
You can also describe someone as,
for example, 'a forty-year-old man'.
Don't say 'a forty-years-old man'.
She married a sixty-year-old man.
Sue lives with her five-year-old son John in the West Country.
You can also say that someone is 'a man of forty'.
However, don't say 'a man of forty years old'.
Maya is a tall, strong woman of thirty.
Actually, he looks good for a man of 62.
2. asking about age
You use old after how when you are asking about the age of a person or thing.
'How old are you?' – 'I'll be eight next year.'
'How old is the Taj Mahal?' – 'It was built in about 1640, I think.'
3. another meaning of 'old'
You can also use old to describe someone who has lived a very long time.
She was a very old lady.
He was very thin and he looked really old.
4. 'elderly'
This use of old can sometimes soundrude.
Elderly is a more polite word.
I look after my elderly mother.
Like many elderly people, Mrs Carstairs could remember voices better than faces.
You can talk about old people as the elderly.
This is one of the many organizations which help the elderly.
5. old friends
An old friend is someone who has been your friend for a long time.
He or she is not necessarily an old person.
Some of us took the opportunity to visit old friends.
6. 'old' used for describing objects
An old building or other object was built or made a long time ago.
The museum is a massive old building.
The drawers were full of old clothes.
7. 'former'
Old can sometimes mean 'former'.
For example, your 'old teacher' is someone that used to be your teacher. He or she is not necessarily an old person.
Jane returned to her old boyfriend.
I still like to visit my old school.
Collins COBUILD English Usage
Elder – eldest – older – oldest
1. 'elder'
The elder of two people is the one who was born first.
Posy was the elder of the two.
If you have a sister or brother who was born before you, you can refer to them as your elder sister or brother.
He had none of his elder brother's charm.
2. 'eldest'
The eldest of a group of people, especially the brothers and sisters in a family, is the one who was born first.
Gladys was the eldest of four children.
Her eldest son was killed in the First War.
3. 'older' and 'oldest'
Elder and eldest are slightlyformal,
and many people do not use them at all.
Instead of 'elder' and 'eldest'
you can use older and oldest.
He's my older brother.
Six of their children were there, including the oldest, Luke.
You can use older and oldest in some ways in which you cannot use 'elder'.
For example, you can use older after be, get, or grow, and in front of than.
Try it when you are a little older.
We're all getting older.
As he grew older, his fascination with bees developed into an obsession.
Harriet was ten years older than I was.
You cannot use 'elder' in any of these ways.
You can also use older and oldest to talk about things.
On older houses there may be guarantees for treatment against woodworm.
It is the oldest of London squares.
It claims to be the oldest insurance company in the world.
You cannot use 'elder' or 'eldest' to talk about things.
Collins COBUILD English Usage
Usage:
The word elder is being increasingly used,
as a more respectful way of referring to older people:
elder care, elder abuse
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Usage Notes
What's the Difference Between 'Elder' and 'Older'?
An age-old question
What to Know
Elder and older but mean "more advanced in age."
But while "older" can describe things as well as people,
"elder" is reserved for people only.
"Elder" can also be used as a noun,
as in "respect your elders," whereas "older" cannot.
Elder/eldest and older/oldest both mean "more/most advanced in age." There's no controversy about these words,
but there are a few important differences
you should know before you get any older.
'Elder' and 'eldest' are only used to refer to persons,
whereas 'older' and 'oldest' are used to refer to both persons and things.
Elder and Eldest are for People
The main point stressed by many usage experts is that
elder and eldest are used only of persons,
while older and oldest can be used of both persons and things:
At the very least, the elder painter was the young man's mentor if not his actual teacher, for he was one of the delegation of two who called on Maria Thins on Vermeer's behalf to ask her to give up her objection to a marriage between her daughter Catharina and the twenty-three-year-old painter.
—Timothy Brook, Vermeer's Hat, 2008
The attendees ranged in age from 25 to 46. "Any other class I took in sewing was so dull," says Lauren McFarland, the eldest in the group.
—Anita Hamilton, Time, 4 Dec. 2006
Almost all the older boarders have skied before. The younger ones are either skaters or surfers. That's why there's less etiquette with the younger boarders.
Neil Stebbins, Ski, February 1995
Rowland says that the granite and schist formed deep inside an ancient mountain range. Erosion eventually wore the mountains down, exposing the older rocks. Rising sea levels then buried them in sand, which became the younger stone.
—Rebecca Coffey, Discover, November 2010
The High Bridge, seen facing south, was finished in 1848 and is the oldest bridge left in the city.
—The New York Times, 19 May 2012
Additionally, some stress that
elder and eldest should be reserved for seniority within a family:
Everybody was on board except for Dakich's son, Andrew. He told his father the obvious—they needed just two points to tie, not three. The elder Dakich, now a college basketball analyst at ESPN, recalled the ensuing interaction like it was yesterday…
—Lev Facher, Michigan Daily, 25 Feb. 2015
Zhang Yin (also known by her Cantonese name, Cheung Yan) was the eldest of eight children of a lowly Red Army officer who was imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution for "capitalist offences".
—The Economist, 27 Aug. 2011
Nevertheless, use of older/oldest in these contexts is very common:
Cord blood could indeed be a lifesaver if there is already a sick older sibling needing stem cells.
—Rita Rubin, U.S. News & World Report, 29 July 1996
Aunt Harriet had lived in Hartford all her life, the oldest daughter of an Irish immigrant who had made it -- my grandfather, Dominick Francis Burns, the man his two daughters and his six grandchildren called Poppa.
—John Gregory Dunne, New England Monthly, March 1988
Elder is Also a Noun
Perhaps due to their other senses,
it is thought that elder and eldest
hold a suggestion of reverence that older and oldest do not.
The Roman scholar Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23 – AD 79) is more commonly known as Pliny the Elder to distinguish from his similarly named nephew, Pliny the Younger (AD 61-62 – c. AD 113).
The term elder statesman refers to an eminent senior or retired member of an organization, especially one who gives advice to current leaders. And elder has a noun sense to refer to a person of advanced age (respect your elders) that is not shared by older.
Despite these differences, the two words share a root: elder derives from an Old English word, ieldra, the comparative form of eald ("old"). Old also derives from eald, but with some Old High German influencing the spelling along the way.
Additionally, eld is a seldom-used noun that means "old age" and long ago meant "old times" or "antiquity."
But unlike old, you wouldn't ask how eld somebody is.
Common Errors In English Usage Dictionary
Old fashion & old timer’s
Although “old fashion” appears in advertising a good deal,
the traditional spelling is “old-fashioned.”
I’ve always thought that “old-timer’s disease”
was a clever if tasteless pun on “Alzheimer’s Disease”;
but many people have assured me that
this is a common and quite unintentional error
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
WHICH WORD?
older or elder
The usual comparative and superlative forms
of old are older and oldest:
My brother is older than me.
The palace is the oldest building in the city.
In BrE you can also use elder and eldest
when comparing the ages of people,
especially members of the same family,
although these words are not common in speech now.
As adjectives they are only used before a noun
and you cannot say 'elder than':
my older/elder sister
the elder/older of their two children
I'm the eldest/oldest in the family.
Dictionary of Problem Words and Expression
old & older
The everyday word for someone advanced in age isold.
Old is also applied to anything in existence
of long standing or that originated in a prior age:
“an old man,” “an old church,” an oldfamily.”
Older is the comparative of old:
“This house is older than that one.”
Older is an overused word for which
any one of several related word might be substituted:
Aged, ancient, venerable, elderly, advanced, senile, veteran, antiqued.
Old appears in many loose, trite, slangy expressions
such as “old hat” “old
bean,” “good old time,” and “old head on young shoulders.”
