"Senior Citizen" - Should That Phrase Be Retired?
We have boomers, Gen Xers, Millenials . . . and for years America has used the phrase "senior citizens?" It's a phrase that just seems dated. What do you think? What other ideas do you have? You can read more about this here. Share your thoughts on this blog or here at the Star Tribune.
1 Comments
Name calling and categorization are never preferred practices. We are lazy though and use shortcuts in our language. We quickly proclaim that no offense is intended. We say we didn't mean it like that. We say we know and respect a lot of older people. In fact, we point to many older people who are our friends. We take umbrage at the insinuation that we are being insensitive or discriminatory. Like many before us, we simply do not see the errors of our ways. I am so glad you posed this language question/observation. We must become conscious of the subtle and pervasive effect of our word choice. We should hesitate whenever adding a modifier to a class of people. It isn't easy to clean our language. It begins with consciousness and thinking. Thank you for beginning the process. On www.Graceful Aging.com, we believe aging is life's best option. Aging is our common denominator as people.
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