How Many Ways Can You Say Old?

I was thinking the either day about all of the ways we talk about older people--

Seniors
Golden Agers
Prime Timers
Third Agers
Old People
Geriatrics
Elders
Ancient
Dinosaurs

Probably many more. In some ways, it almost seems like the evolution in ways we talk about older people is similar to the evolution in how we talk about people with lower IQ's. The first designations--moron, cretin, etc., became insults and then we talked about retarded people, and then we talked about exceptionnal children, and then we talk about developmentally disabled, and then we talked about people with developmental disabilities.

And it seems like things shift because the descriptive words become insults, almost as though to be one of "those" people was objectionnable . The words became judgments, and the people are judged undesireable or to be like them is undesireable.

And what does it say about our society and culture if that is what happens when we talk or think about our mothers and fathers and grandparents and great grandparents?

How do we shift to valuing and cherishing a whole segment of our people--ourselves?

I dunno, actually.

But we could call them something different again.

We could call them--how about-- I mean, you know, if we have YUP pies, for Young Urban Professionals, and we have DINKS, for Dual Income No Kids, and "gay people" is already taken, and happy people"" doesn't have a great ring to it-- well how about OP's for Older People. Or SOPs--Seriously Older People? Or Oppies and Soppies?

Kind of catchy, don't you think?