Professionals call it elderspeak, the sweetly belittling form of address that has always rankled older people: the doctor who talks to their child rather than to them about their health; the store clerk who assumes that an older person does not know how to work a computer, or needs to be addressed slowly or in a loud voice. Then there are those who address any elderly person as “dear.”Read more about what can peeve older people here.
--Prunella
2 comments:
Oooh, Pru, you beat me to it! I was going to post this too. Great minds, etc. (Or is that great whiners? ;-)
Anyway, I admit that even as a not-yet-elderly person, I agree with some of the elderly people's peeves. I don't like being called "honey" or "sweetie" by people who don't know me, or being talked about as though I am not there, or treated like a child, or talked to as though I can't have any experience (this is the opposite of the elderly, who are treated like all their experiences are behind them). I sympathize with them and urge people to stay away from 20-and-30-something-speak too!
--Curly
I vote for Great Minds!
--Pru
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