2022-02-19
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – E - elder & eldest & older & oldest
แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น
ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค
Dictionary.com:
ออกเสียง elder = “EL-der”
ออกเสียง eldest = “EL-dist”
ออกเสียง older = “OHL-der”
ออกเสียง oldest = “OHL-dist”
Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions:
elder & eldest & older & oldest
The first two words of this group apply only to persons,
whereasolder andoldest may apply to persons or things.
Also,elder andeldest (much less common than the other two terms)
apply principally to members of a given family, or business establishment and indicate age or seniority (elder brother), eldestpartner).
However, say “He is older (not elder) than his brother.”
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
Dictionary.com:
The Language Of Ageism:
Understanding How We Talk About Older People
Published May 19, 2021
Every May in the United States,
Americans observe Older Americans Month,
a month-long observance devoted to celebrating older Americans
and their contributions and raising awareness about issues related to
age and aging.
This makes May an important time during which
to consider language used to talk about older people and ageism
—which we should be doing every month of the year, too!
This topic matters because we are living a lot longer
than we did even several decades ago.
According to the United Nations,
the average life expectancy of a person in the 1960s was 52.5 years old.
Today, that number has climbed to 72.7 years old.
In some countries, that number goes even higher:
that the average baby boy born in 2016
could expect to live to be 79.2 years old
and a baby girl nearly 83 years old.
These figures raise an important question:
first of all, what does “old age” mean, anyway?
What do we mean by old age?
We define old age as “the last period of human life,
now often considered to be the years after 65.”
The United Nations also often uses the age 65
when listing statistics or data aboutolder persons.
The World Health Organization lowers the number a little bit to age 60 when referring to “older people.”
The World Economic Forum
takes a more statistical (and grimly realistic) approach
and defines old age as beginning at a country’s
average age of death minus fifteen years.
These different approaches illustrate that
it is often a matter of opinion when exactly old age begins.
Interestingly, polls typically show that the younger you are, the sooner you are to believe that a person enters old age.
When is middle age?
We define middle age as
“the period of human life between youth and old age,
sometimes considered as the years between 45 and 65 or thereabout.”
Given the different views on when old age begins,
it shouldn’t surprise you to learn that
the exact range of middle age is not set in stone either.
In general, our age range of “45 to 65” is around
the age range generally used to say when middle age supposedly occurs.
Polling shows that people may think
middle age begins later or earlier depending on who you ask.
Statistically speaking,
the average life expectancy in the United States is 78.7 years old,
which would mean middle age would mathematically
begin in an American’s late 30s.
Older vs. senior vs. elderly
Three words that you may commonly hear to refer to people
of higher age groups are older, senior, and elder(ly).
The words elderly and senior have begun to fall out of favor,
and the term older has become the preferred word to use.
Many people have raised objections
to the words senior and elderly for several reasons,
the most common of which is that both terms are
thought to imply that a person is frail,
and neither term accounts for the wide range of lifestyles
or abilities of the people they refer to.
This brings us to the word older.
Take note of the -er on the end of the word!
In general, this term is widely accepted
by media outlets, scientific and medical organizations,
major global organizations
such as the United Nations, and (according to polls) people in general.
Of all three terms,
older is typically seen as the most neutral,
the most factually accurate
(everybody is older than someone, after all),
and has the least implications about a particular person’s lifestyle.
Older is often used as an adjective to refer to specific groups,
such as “older Americans” or “older voters.”
🔑 Key message
The most important thing is to be respectful of everyone around you
and avoid using language,
such as elderly or senior, many people find belittling or condescending.
What is ageism?
Ageism is defined as
as “discrimination against persons of a certain age group”
or “a tendency to regard older persons
as debilitated, unworthy of attention, or unsuitable for employment.”
According to the World Health Organization,
“Ageism refers to the stereotypes (how we think),
prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) towards others
or oneself based on age.”
The WHO considers ageism to be a serious global problem
that contributes to hostility between generations
andcan have significant medical and economicimpacts.
According to the WHO,
ageism has cost just the United States $63 billion in additional costs
toward health care for the eight most expensive health conditions.
Ageism impacts younger people, too
While ageism is often considered from
the perspective of prejudice against older people,
ageism can be directed at younger people, too.
Often, this takes the form of condescending language,
negative views of young peoples’ attitudes, opinions, conduct, and style, or negative stereotypes of younger generations.
For example, millennials
(and other young people) are often said to be
“entitled,” “lazy,” “narcissistic,” “disrespectful,”
paradoxically both uninterested in societal issues
and too “woke,” and so on.
Forms of ageism in language
Sometimes, ageist language is easy to identify.
There are many obvious terms that are considered insulting or belittling when used to refer to older people
—though, of course, some older people may use them themselves
in a self-deprecating way.
Some of these terms include:
In slang, the terms “the olds” or “an old”
areused to refer to older people/an older person.
While generally meant to be playful,
these terms can be considered petty or worse—insensitive
— if used to refer to what we consider to be older people.
However, these terms can also be used ironically
to refer to anyone who is older than the speaker,
such as a person’s parents or older siblings.
Medical language
In general, it is considered ageist to use language that
implies medical illness, dependency, or disability
when referring to older people.
This includes language such as:
The above words are considered ageist
because they are often used to imply that all older people
need medical assistance or support, which is obviously untrue.
Instead, you can use more acceptable words
to refer to buildings or neighborhoods
with large numbers of older people living in them,
such as community, apartments, residence, senior living
(if the community itself uses this term),
or assisted living (a term that could refer to all age groups).
Euphemisms
Some of the terms that can be considered insensitive
—if not just cliche or disrespectful
—are euphemisms, or mild, indirect, or vague
expressions that substitute for another thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt.
In this case, the euphemisms don’t directly refer to a person’s age
but mean a person is of old age.
These include:
- over the hill
- golden years
- past one’s prime
- senior citizen
Other terms can be considered insensitive
because they imply that it is abnormal for an older person
to be energetic or in good physical shape:
And more generally speaking,
euphemisms can take on pejorative qualities
of the terms they originally replaced.
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 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:
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.
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.
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 old age,
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 English Dictionary:
Usage:
The word elder is being increasingly used,
as a more respectful way of referring to older people:
elder care, elder abuse
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language:
old′ness n.
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 a euphemism
for the blunter old but rather a more precise term
for someone between middle and advanced age.
And unlike elderly,
older does not particularly suggest frailness or infirmity,
making it the natural choice in many situations.
See Usage Note at elder.
Collins COBUID English Dictionary:
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 slightly formal,
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.
Dictionary.com:
SYNONYM STUDY FOR OLDER
Older, elder imply
having greater age than something or someone else.
Older is the usual form of the comparative of old:
This building is older than that one.
Elder, now greatly restricted in application,
is used chiefly to indicate seniority in age as between any two people
but especially priority of birth
as between children born of the same parents:
The elder brother became king.
HISTORICAL & CURRENT EVENTS DICTIONARY
Older Americans Month
[ ohl-der uh-mer-i-kuhnz muhnth ]
Published May 6, 2021
WHAT IS OLDER AMERICANS MONTH?
Older Americans Month is a month-long observance in the US
devoted to celebrating older Americans and their contributions
and raising awareness about issues related to age and aging.
The term older Americans generally
refers to Americans aged 65 and over.
Older Americans Month is typically observed
with community events held by various organizations,
often with an emphasis on providing older Americans
with support and access to resources related to aging.
When is Older Americans Month?
Older Americans Month is observed each year during the month of May.
WHERE DOES OLDER AMERICANS MONTH COME FROM?
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy established
what was then called Senior Citizens Month.
The month became known as Older Americans Month in 1965.
Like many observance months, Older Americans Month
has a yearly theme, which is set by the Administrationon Aging
and the Administration on Community Living
(which are both part of the US Department of Health and Human Services).
For example, the theme for Older Americans Month in 2021,
“Communities of Strength,” was chosen to celebrate
the strength of older Americans and to encourage mutual engagement
between older Americans and their communities.
EXAMPLES OF OLDER AMERICANS MONTH
This #OlderAmericansMonth, we're celebrating
the strength of older adults and the Aging Network,
with special emphasis on the power of connection
and engagement in building strong communities.
@VANTAGEaging, May 3, 2021
May is #OlderAmericansMonth and
this years theme “Communities of Strength” celebrates
the resilience and strength of older adults and the aging network.
We are grateful for the countless contributions of older adults
and our partners in the aging network each and every day!
@Mass_EOEA, May 3, 2021
MORE INFORMATION AND CONTEXT ON OLDER AMERICANS MONTH
Did you know … ?
- When the observance that became Older Americans Month was first established, about 17 million Americans were 65 or over.
In 2020, this number was 56 million.
What are other words used in discussion of Older Americans Month?
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NOTE
This is not meant to be a formal definition of Older Americans Month
like most terms we define on Dictionary.com,
but is rather an informal word summary
that hopefully touches upon the key aspects
of the meaning and usage of Older Americans Month
that will help our users expand their word mastery.
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 a euphemism for the blunter old
but rather a more precise term
for someone between middle and advanced age.
And unlike elderly,
older does not particularly suggest frailness or infirmity,
making it the natural choice in many situations.
See Usage Note at elder.
