# How old are you and what age would you consider to be "young?" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 16, 2019, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947 "2019-12-16T17:07:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/21 "2019-12-16T23:33:38Z")
I’m 67. Anyone under 30 is “young”. But like other posters have said “young” is a relative term so it will depend on the context. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/22 "2019-12-16T23:34:30Z")
I’m not sure if I can label this. My mum (she’s been dead for a few years) used to say that she had friends from just about every age group, from 20s through 80s. I feel the same way and I’m 57. Is 30 young? Yeah, I guess. A lot of pro athletes are still damned good at 30. Is 40 young? Maybe if you’re a high-priced executive/CEO. Is 50 young? Sure when it comes to leisure activities like golf, pick-up hockey, softball, hiking. Is 60 young? No. 60 is not young. Is Neil Young? Not any more. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/23 "2019-12-17T00:03:21Z")
1. 25 is the end of young. For what it’s worth I don’t consider 52 to be old, but it’s definitely the last chance you have that you can say, “I’m not _old_.” But you still have to italicize “old” because, yes you are. Those parts that break as a reminder that you’re not 20 something don’t heal right, and other parts just stop working right even though you can’t remember doing anything hostile to them. Which is not to say you didn’t, just that you can’t remember. Old actually starts at 43, but you can sort of pretend it doesn’t for a decade. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/24 "2019-12-17T01:33:34Z")
I’m 58. I’d go with under 30 as being young. ’ ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/25 "2019-12-17T01:41:12Z")
I’m 68. 30 to 35; though it does depend on the context. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/26 "2019-12-17T02:27:35Z")
It’s not the years, it’s the mileage. QtM, 62 ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/27 "2019-12-17T02:56:08Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > It’s not the years, it’s the mileage. > > QtM, 62 This is it right here. ETA: 39 ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/28 "2019-12-17T03:12:13Z")
I flip it around and ask, what do I consider middle age? I don’t consider people in their late 30s or early 40s middle age (although, I guess they actually are when you consider a life span is about 80 years these days). I’d say that once you’re 45, you can stop calling yourself young. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/29 "2019-12-17T03:18:37Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > 1. Anyone under 50 is young. 1. I agree. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/30 "2019-12-17T03:45:45Z")
Youth is a spectrum to me. Under 18, go away kid yer botherin me. 18-23ish young adult 23ish to 27 or 28ish way to go bub, you’ve learned a couple of things or finally gotten that post graduate degree. 28ish-35ish welcome to real adulthood, this is where you _really_ put yer nose to the grindstone for that final polish 36 or so up to mid 40s, hey boss, looks like experience and responsibility have knocked some of the shine off Mid 40s thru 49 if you want to hop careers, do it now, this might be your last chance to do so voluntarily. 49 thru…I dunno, whats it like for you older kids over 50? (Dude is so cool man, he’s like old enough to [del]own and drive a car[/del] retire, man the stories I bet he could tell) ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/31 "2019-12-17T04:17:52Z")
I am sixty-two. I consider twenty-five to be end of youth. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/32 "2019-12-17T05:03:46Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > 64, and I consider 0-30 young, 30-60 adult, 60-90 old, and above 90 ancient. I’m a little younger than you, but I have the same split. Only I consider ~20-death to be adult. So I say 0-30 is young 30-60 is middle-aged 60-90 is old 90+ is ancient Of course, it does depend on context. That’s just overall. But I would agree that a 40 year old CEO is young, and 25 year old high school student is old. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/33 "2019-12-17T14:19:21Z")
59 At 30, one is no longer young. Personally, I didn’t feel old until 50. ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/34 "2019-12-18T01:25:04Z")
I’m 36, and to me “young” is hopelessly context-specific. A lawyer under 40 is young; an athlete over 22 isn’t. My old boss who had breast cancer in her 30s was “so young” (for that), but the 27-year-old guy I was dating at the time was, I soon realized, too old for me (I was 19.) I guess while I can think of many situations where I’d draw the line earlier, I don’t often use the word for people past 40. We’ll see if that changes in 4 years. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/35 "2019-12-18T03:50:54Z")
I’m 60. Young is ≤ 35. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/36 "2019-12-18T05:06:09Z")
1. Under 20-23 (depends on the person) is a “kid”. Anyone above that is “younger than me”. ---
**Author:** ![Delicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@Delicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delicious)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/37 "2019-12-18T10:33:16Z")
I’m 34. Anyone 33 or younger is too young and inexperienced to be of any use to anyone Anyone 35 or older is an old codger who’s out of touch with society. The ages are subject to re-evaluation on my next birthday…got to account for inflation and such. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/38 "2019-12-21T20:24:07Z")
I’m 55. Young is under 30. Maybe 32. Old is 60+. ---
**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/39 "2019-12-21T20:43:12Z")
54, young is under 25 and I need to stop calling old ladies that as it offends my partner who is 66 but she’s getting damned close. ---
**Author:** ![Tempe\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tempe_jeff/32/7328_2.png) [@Tempe\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tempe_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947/40 "2019-12-22T00:51:06Z")
I read somewhere, half your age plus 7. Since, I’m 58 my ideal mate would be 36. 58/2=29+7=36 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-you-and-what-age-would-you-consider-to-be-young/844947.md?page=3)