Talk:older adult

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older adult

(euphemistic) An old person. Seems literal rather than euphemistic to me. Mglovesfun (talk) 13:46, 31 May 2012 (UTC)

I think the issue is whether the context-free, euphemistic use of this constitutes an idiom. I could imagine someone saying "We are all older adults here." without a specific reference population for the comparison. As "oldness" in people is considered undesirable (in some cultures, for some purposes) and being absolutely old is possibly worse than being older than an unspecified reference population, the legitimacy of the euphemism tag seems clear. Suggesting possible euphemisms seems well within the scope of a capacious online dictionary. I'd say keep. DCDuring TALK 18:07, 31 May 2012 (UTC)

Keep. This locution is frequently recommended, and widely used, as an alternative to any of the various other ways of referring to an older adult. And it's interesting that "older adult" tends to be used more than "older person" (including in contexts where the latter would be perfectly clear), whereas "elderly", "old", etc., tend to collocate with "person". —Ruakh_TALK 19:34, 31 May 2012 (UTC)

So maybe keep it only as a usage note for such "various other ways"?​—msh210℠ (talk) 21:13, 31 May 2012 (UTC)

I think the tendency has more to do with sound than semantics Chuck Entz (talk) 17:09, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Keep. "older adult" can literally referred to any adult that's older than another one (e.g. a 30-year old is an older adult than an 18-year old), regardless if that adult is an "elderly person", however the word "older adult" is often used euphemistic to specifically refer to old people (senior citizens). Shoof (talk) 04:29, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

I would dispute that this is a euphemism. Equinox ◑ 09:49, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Keep The meaning is not clear from its parts. Matthias Buchmeier (talk) 09:22, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Why not? We know what an adult is, so an older adult must be one who is relatively aged: exactly the definition. Equinox ◑ 09:26, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Yes, that was my logic when I nominated it. I was a bit hungover yesterday so I couldn't be bothered to type it out articulately. Mglovesfun (talk) 09:35, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Delete, personally. Ƿidsiþ 09:30, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Note from Google Books clear existence of younger child, younger teenager, older adolescent, etc. Equinox ◑ 09:43, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

I'd imagine those are all using it literally though, talking about a child that is younger/older than the child currently being discussed. Not quite the same as this. Smurrayinchester (talk) 15:27, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

No, they are often not used that way, but the same way as this term. See G.Books. Equinox ◑ 16:32, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Every hit on the first two pages for "younger child" are either unclear or are referring literally to a child younger than another (often in inheritance cases). "younger teenager" gets a few hits that imply a setness of phrase, but most are, again, talking about a teenager younger than another. "older adolescent" does seem to be a set phrase though. Smurrayinchester (talk) 11:27, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

Try the plural forms then. Equinox ◑ 11:28, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

older (2. elderly) + adult (1. A fully grown human or animal). Delete. Ungoliant MMDCCLXIV 15:14, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Keep I don't see how we could delete this word, but keep senior citizen. It's as sum of parts as older adult is - it's a "citizen" that is "senior" (to another, hypothetical adult). "older adult" is interpreted as a single phrase, with a more specific meaning than it's sum of parts implies (I found a lot of sources that define "older adult" specifically as someone over 50, such as this guide to chemotherapy and the Older Adult Ministries association). If nothing else, it doesn't say who the adult is older than. The term seems to be used a lot by doctors, and many of them will be in their 50s and 60s. This is less SOP that young adult (due to the comparative) and young adult seems like a solid entry. Smurrayinchester (talk) 15:25, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Senior citizen is a set phrase, where the second part is used for alliteration more than for any other reason. I can easily imagine debates about whether to deport senior citizens who are illegal aliens. Chuck Entz (talk) 16:59, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

"older adult", judging from Google/Google Books hits, is a set phrase too. Smurrayinchester (talk)

Delete The euphemism is older, for which we have a sense. The rationale behind its use is similar to that for "the aging": aging is a continuous, varied process, not a binary state. There's a world of difference between a gray-haired marathoner (or someone correspondingly mentally active such as User:SemperBlotto) and a frail convalescent-home resident with advanced dementia. "Adult" here is just a placeholder- we also talk about "those who are older". Chuck Entz (talk) 16:29, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Keep per Shoof. bd2412 T 17:22, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Delete per Equinox, Ungoliant, Chuck.​—msh210℠ (talk) 18:42, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Abstain, per everyone (lol). Mglovesfun (talk) 18:33, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

Note that we have an entry for young adult. Is that sum-of-parts? Shoof (talk) 03:41, 12 June 2012 (UTC)

Kept. — Ungoliant ^(Falai) 04:03, 16 August 2012 (UTC)