What’s In a Word Anyway?

By Siggy Raible

Well, the other day I was sitting outside my favorite bakery/coffee shop on LaGuardia Place (a three-block stretch in Greenwich Village) with nothing much to do when I picked up a free copy of a local weekly newspaper. I read about the happenings in the Village and with time on my hands worked on the puzzles included with the paper.

I became a little perturbed when I came across 15 words in the word search puzzle which related to the theme of aging. Here are the words:

• aged; ancient; elderly; experienced; gray; grizzled; hoary;

• mature; olden days; outdated; outmoded; seasoned;

• senior; venerable; and veteran.

I must confess that I am aged. Some people euphemistically call themselves seniors. In my case I consider myself an experienced, sometimes mature and seasoned (quite well) veteran of life who has survived life’s many bumps in the road. However, I am not ancient, elderly, gray, grizzled, hoary, outdated or outmoded. I am also not venerable. (It isn’t a dirty word; it’s just a word I wouldn’t use to describe myself.)

Let’s look at the eight dirty words I find offensive. I used Google to help me with the definitions.

Ancient: “refers to something from a very distant time, particularly the historical period before the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD.” I am not a thing or someone who survived the fall of the Western Roman Empire. I was born whatchamacallit years ago.

Elderly: “is an adjective used to describe someone who is old, in the later stages of life or past middle age … elderly can sometimes carry connotations of physical frailty and decline.” Shucks, even if I am old, I don’t consider myself in decline. I am simply suffering with the life’s slings and arrows!

Gray: “is an intermediate, neutral color between black and white often associated with neutrality, rain clouds and ash.” Oh for god’s sake! I am not gray/grey; I am silver-haired. Here’s what Google says about silver “a highly malleable lustrous white metallic chemical element (symbol Ag, atomic number 47) … [it] is used to describe shiny … white hair.” See, I’m lustrous, atomic and have shiny white hair. I am definitely not gray.

Grizzled: is “an adjective meaning streaked or mixed with gray (we’ve already discussed this dirty word) typically describing hair or beard.” Fun factoid: “the first use of grizzled was in the 15th century.” To me it sounds like something left on the grill too long! Or what comes to mind is a picture of a grizzly bear … not the huggable Pooh in Winnie the Pooh. So I’m definitely not grizzly or grizzled as I give and receive hugs!

Hoary: (Now here’s a word that sounds like it should be on George Carlin’s list of dirty words.) It “is an adjective that means gray white with age, extremely old and ancient or stale.” Another fun fact: first known use was in 1530 and in my opinion should have gone out of use right then and there!

Olden days: “is a phrase referring to a time far in the past.” Hey I may have been born in the last century but not that “far in the past.”

Outdated: “means something is no longer modern, current or fashionable … common synonyms: out-of-date; obsolete; antiquated and outmoded.” I may not be fashionable, but I am not outdated or outmoded! A nice segue into our last dirty word.

Outmoded: “describes something that is no longer modern, practical, fashionable or acceptable by current standards.” In other words outdated. I am not past my use by date, thank you very much!

And then there is:

Venerable: “an adjective that means commanding respect, honor and reverence because of great age, wisdom, character or historical importance.” The only time I ever heard or saw this word used was in conjunction with a name as in the Venerable Bede. Now Mr. Bede lived in 735 A.D. in Northumbria, England, and was called the Venerable Bede as a mark of respect for his immense contributions to theology, science, and history. I am neither a monk nor knowledgeable in theology, science and history. I am just me – a simple oldster. (My childhood friend’s husband prefers to be called an “oldster.” I’m told that Pete Seeger did too!)

So to sum up, I am a proud, mature, experienced, atomic and, on many occasions, a very grumpy older person. As a life veteran I have been seasoned by meeting life’s many challenges. I am silver-haired like the elves in Lord of the Rings and, like them, still fighting the good fight. So I’ll end with the following:

Warning: Approach with caution oldster at work or play.

P.S. I found all the words in the search puzzle, including the dirty gray ones.