By Karen and Erica

We are Baby Boomers. We’ve always thought that a strange appellation. We aren’t babies, and we seldom boom, though we did get born in the middle of one. Boomers were the first named cohort—the so-called Silent Generation before us being labelled much later. It turns out that these names for generations were chosen by marketers, who must have had something in mind for a cohort spanning eighteen years of booming but lots of other earth-shaking events as well.

One thing Baby Boomers never saw coming is that one day we would be called names associated with an outdated concept of oldness. Like Senior, senior citizen, elderly, mature. Apparently, now that we are in our 50s, 60s and 70s, that’s what some people think.

We don’t like these words. We are happy to own our years, but we are not happy to be classified as old. Some of the synonyms for old include ancient, decrepit, geriatric, grizzled, over the hill. We do not identify with such words, and we don’t think most Boomers do. For good reason. We are living entirely different lives than people in their 50s, 60s, and 70s did when the term Baby Boomer was invented.

Apparently people of our age in Japan (who are not denominated Boomers, for the most part) feel the same way. In response, a suburb of Tokyo even put up a banner that identifies itself as the town where people in their 60s are not called elderly people. Recently, that was changed to people in their 70s. That’s progress.

And there’s more. We were entertained by a Wall Street Journal article about initiatives in Japan to come up with a new name for people over 64. Apparently the Japan Gerontological Society and the Japan Geriatrics Society were working on the problem and decided that people 65 to 74 are to be called pre-old. This in light of the breaking news that:

Many in the 65-to-74 set don’t share the traits often associated with the term elderly. Only 6% require care by others. Half of those 65 to 69 hold jobs, as do a third of those in their early 70s. Life expectancy in Japan now stretches into the late 80s for women and the early 80s for men.

But then, once you are 75, you are called late stage elderly. Kind of terminal. So you go from pre-old to late stage elderly on your 75th birthday. Yikes. Seems as if that would put a bit of a damper on the celebration.

So what is the Gerontological Society of America doing? As far as we can tell it offers no specific words by which to categorize specific age cohorts, but it does offer a number of good ideas about how to change the way we talk about age. The GSA advocates that we reject vocalizations like senior moment, or putting people out to pasture, or you look good for your age, as well as references to negative concepts like a coming tsunami, and speak in more positive terms about older people. It even suggests—more breaking news—that we might treat older people as equals.

We do think it important to change the way we all speak about age. We know people have been given terrifying messages about the silver tsunami that will soon drown the world in needy and greedy older people. If we treat older people as creatures different from the other humans who inhabit the planet, and refuse the assets they offer, and force them to live in isolated communities where they get sick and depressed, we can ensure that the worst happens. But why do that? If we decide instead to take what people like us have to offer, and allow people like us to remain active members of society, we will create a bigger pie for everyone by helping to solve the huge problems before us. Let’s call it the sustainability tsunami.

Everyone who escapes an early death is going to get older, which should give every one of us an interest in how older people are viewed and characterized. Changing the conversation to make sure we all know that people who age do not age out of being human, and indeed have considerable value because of the years they have lived, is critical. Using better words is a key part of changing attitudes.

What words would you suggest? Or invent?