Geriatric. when is that?

[aliceBB]

It is not so long ago that children with special educational needs (of varying degrees) were classified 'officially as 'cretins' and 'subnormal' - nobody would want to see those terms used today (I hope).

 

Surely it is the case that some terms have a very specific and objective meaning in medical contexts (e.g. 'spastic' relates to the inability of muscles to function optimally) but when casually in non-medical contexts (e.g. school playgrounds, sports grounds, etc.), they acquire, over time, a pejorative meaning. When that meaning becomes widespread, it makes the word's use in a clinical setting more problematic, in the end. Doctors become less comfortable about using it and new, less emotive terms evolve, ones with less 'baggage'.

 

I predict that 'geriatric' will no longer be in use (even in clinical contexts) within 10 years. People aged 65 and over have been referred to variously over the years as 'geriatric patients' 'the aged', 'old people' and 'older people'. The problem is that the word 'old' itself is much more commonly used (by English speakers generally) as a negative tag than a positive one. How often do you hear it in tandem with an insult (daft old keff', 'miserable old git', 'daft old beggar', etc) compared with a positive epithet ('the good old days' is one of the few!).

 

Makes you think.

[Super Hans]

How so ? .

 

 

Well you don't know what term is going to be offensive in the future do you. Spastic, cripple, negr*...they were all perfectly acceptable terms many decades ago. Any number of readily used terms could be deemed inappropriate in the future, and there is no reason why a currently acceptable term such as 'elderly' today, won't be an offensive word in the future.

 

Look back on this post in twenty years, many words you use today in common parlance will be classed as totally non PC in the future.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Super Hans

[Solomon1]

geriatric, to me, is someone over 80

[aliceBB]

geriatric, to me, is someone over 80

 

No, you're thinking of 'octogenarian'.

[Harleyman]

The dictionary describes geriatric as an old or aged person but old or aged is only relevant to the individual.

I know people who are 65 but act and have bodies like 80 year olds. On the other hand I also know some people over seventy who are as active as 50 year olds

[yorky15]

No, you're thinking of 'octogenarian'.

 

The dictionary describes geriatric as an old or aged person but old or aged is only relevant to the individual.

I know people who are 65 but act and have bodies like 80 year olds. On the other hand I also know some people over seventy who are as active as 50 year olds

 

No finite answer then, most strange. thanks posters.

[aliceBB]

No finite answer then, most strange. thanks posters.

 

It depends on the context. If 'geriatric' is used in an informal, non-clinical context, it generally connotes age-related uselessness/dependence (it is even applied to objects rather than people, for humorous effect : a geriatric Morris Minor, etc).

 

If it is used in a medical context (increasingly less so, these days as it is perceived as mildly offensive), it refers to elderly people who have medical needs.

 

Hope that answers your question.

[Plain Talker]

You will find that pregnant ladies are officially classed as 'geriatric mums' by midwives, nurses and hospitals. My Mrs was so at age 34, we both heard it and saw it on notes at Rotherham General. I remember taking a bit of umbrage about this, and having a bit of a reactionary ding-dong with the Registrar in view of the "kindergarten for teens" that was the maternity ward, which their use of the term seemed to condone.

 

Yes, my late mother was classed as a geriatric mother when she was pregnant with my youngest sister at the age of 34/5. And my mother was also offended at being termed "geriatric" at just 34.

 

---------- Post added 19-01-2015 at 21:44 ----------

 

It depends on the context. If 'geriatric' is used in an informal, non-clinical context, it generally connotes age-related uselessness/dependence (it is even applied to objects rather than people, for humorous effect : a geriatric Morris Minor, etc).

 

If it is used in a medical context (increasingly less so, these days as it is perceived as mildly offensive), it refers to elderly people who have medical needs.

 

Hope that answers your question.

 

Geriatrics is medicine relating to the needs of older people, paediatrics is medicine relaying to the needs of peopke under the age of 18 or thereabouts.

We dont get people taking umbrage at their child bring under the care of a paediatrician for their medical needs.

 

---------- Post added 19-01-2015 at 21:51 ----------

 

Well you don't know what term is going to be offensive in the future do you. Spastic, cripple, negr*...they were all perfectly acceptable terms many decades ago. Any number of readily used terms could be deemed inappropriate in the future, and there is no reason why a currently acceptable term such as 'elderly' today, won't be an offensive word in the future.

 

Look back on this post in twenty years, many words you use today in common parlance will be classed as totally non PC in the future.

 

*****/ negroid, like caucasian or caucasoid, are legitimate definitions of racial type, when used for anthropological purposes, for example. Say some human remains are found, and need identifying.

 

It is not a slur to use those definitions to categorise the person's race in that manner, a caucasoid person's skull has a different shape and defining features than does a negroid or an asian (mongoloid) person's skull.

Edit to say, "gah! The autocensor has autocensored the word 'n-e-g-r-o' in my post!"

Edited January 19, 2015 by Plain Talker