Talk:2213: How Old

Interestingly enough this comic is actually not about feeling old... Even with this title. Was all surprised :-) --Kynde (talk) 09:37, 9 October 2019 (UTC)

Well for many elderly people it is quite a nuisance to be treated like a little kid, especially when in retirement homes. While some might enjoy childish activities, for others, especially those whose mental state may be better than their physical, it is very annoying to be "forced" to play children games. That, and that being treated like a kid, kinda makes them notice their age even more. So even though this doesn't make the reader old (unless the reader is at an age where being treated similar to a child is a regular experience), it might make Cueballs dad feel old. --Lupo (talk) 09:42, 9 October 2019 (UTC)

For adults, especially Women, it is often considered rude to ask for their age. Whereas for kids, and to a lesser extent for elderly adults, it can be considered polite to ask about their age. In the case of kids, they are very aware of their age and how it relates to others, and usually happy to talk about it. For the elderly, their age can be a source of pride if many of their peers have died but they are still in relatively good health. -boB (talk) 17:14, 9 October 2019 (UTC)

"I'd like you to meet my $foo."
"Aww, what's [ten times] the natural logarithm of their age?"
JohnHawkinson (talk) 11:21, 9 October 2019 (UTC)

While old people may indeed become more "compressed" (as per current version of explanation - skeletal or specifically spinal one presumes, though head hair might be flatter and less prominent) perhaps the word "stooped" would be better, as it covers a dec(/inc)line of posture (involuntary or passively voluntary spinal curveture converting youthful height into a lean, bandied/steadying sacrificing verticality legs, hunching of the kneck, lessening of chest inflation and general hunching) as well as the age-related joint compression and bone decalcification effects. (Another possible reference is that the one remembering how high the person was might have been shorter themselves the last time they could have held their hand up to a given height, so their self-centric relative measure is now overheight to the 'datum' of the already matured person in front of them. But I actually do think that elder-shrinkage is the actual intention of the words, if it's just one thing.) 162.158.34.222 15:39, 9 October 2019 (UTC)