# Things that make you look old **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 4, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889 "2016-03-04T02:20:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/101 "2016-03-05T23:30:57Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > Listening to music out in public with old-style headphones instead of earbuds, bonus points for listening to a CD instead of mp3 or app. > [@Peremensoe](#): > > Actually I have observed a minor revival of over-the-ear headphones among hip young folk. Presumably because earbuds suck. Yeah, thinking that young people use buds is what marks the Elf as old. Big headphones have been fashionable for a while now. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/102 "2016-03-06T00:11:24Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > …Referring to ‘albums’ when you’re speaking of music… The RIAA still calls them albums, and so do I. Regardless of the recording media being used. Now get off my lawn! ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/103 "2016-03-06T00:47:25Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > That link doesn’t show a hairstyle, by the way. Well, that’s tedious. Try this. Same general hairstyle. [http://tinyurl.com/hfv8lvz](http://tinyurl.com/hfv8lvz) **ThelmaLou** – I turned off the ringer on my landline. I didn’t care when people called a lot of the time, to be honest (and there’s voice mail – my dad in particular has a genius for calling when I was sitting down to dinner or going to bed). I hate talking on the phone. I was before my time! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/104 "2016-03-06T01:23:09Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > … > **ThelmaLou** – I turned off the ringer on my landline. I didn’t care when people called a lot of the time, to be honest (and there’s voice mail – my dad in particular has a genius for calling when I was sitting down to dinner or going to bed). I hate talking on the phone. I was before my time! 😃 Hell, I used to \*unplug \*my landline. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/105 "2016-03-06T02:29:36Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > Well, that’s tedious. > > Try this. Same general hairstyle. > > [1980s short hairstyle women at work - Google Search](http://tinyurl.com/hfv8lvz) That hairdo is more \*ancient \*than merely old. The only women I’ve seen with that haircut are about the same age now that Blanche on \*The Golden Girls \*was when she had that same haircut. The dated one that I see these days and think “Man… they didn’t get the memo” is the 1990s bangs and long hair. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/106 "2016-03-06T03:10:27Z")
> [@bump](#): > > That hairdo is more \*ancient \*than merely old. The only women I’ve seen with that haircut are about the same age now that Blanche on \*The Golden Girls \*was when she had that same haircut. > > The dated one that I see these days and think “Man… they didn’t get the memo” is the 1990s bangs and long hair. These days, it doesn’t even seem like boys even bother brushing their hair. It’s like they wake up out of bed, look in the mirror, do the Fonzie move, and off to school they go. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/107 "2016-03-06T03:18:43Z")
> [@bump](#): > > That hairdo is more \*ancient \*than merely old. The only women I’ve seen with that haircut are about the same age now that Blanche on \*The Golden Girls \*was when she had that same haircut. > > The dated one that I see these days and think “Man… they didn’t get the memo” is the 1990s bangs and long hair. [SlightHijack] While we are talking hair styles, what is the name for the hair style Paul Ryan wears? I thought it was called ‘cliff hair’ because it has a styled wave in the front (like its covering a cranial ridge) but I’ve been told that cliff hair is super high, like Eraserhead, but with shaved sides. I know its a style… but I have no idea what its called though. [/SlightHijack] ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/108 "2016-03-06T03:31:02Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Yeah, thinking that young people use buds is what marks the Elf as old. Big headphones have been fashionable for a while now. I wasn’t referring to studio reference quality “big” headphones though, rather the cheap drugstore ones that people used to wear with their Sony Walkman or CD player. And I’m talking about outdoor activities like walking or running, not lounging around in the park or on a commuter bus. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/109 "2016-03-06T21:40:03Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Wearing medical below-the-knee compression stockings . . . with shorts. > > That’s me. I have to wear the stockings, and damned if I’ll wear long pants in summer. But hey, I look old anyway. Yeah, me too. But I only have to wear it on one leg, so it looks as though it is for a specific medical issue, not just getting old. (Of course, they are all worn for specific medical reasons, but the impression of just one is different than wearing two.) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/110 "2016-03-07T16:00:45Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > While we are talking hair styles, what is the name for the hair style Paul Ryan wears? I’d call it the “Eddie Munster”, because all I see is that crazy widow’s peak when I look at him. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/111 "2016-03-07T16:26:59Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > Using your forefinger on your phone as opposed to your thumbs to text , etc. Egad, I do this. I’ve mentioned this elsewhere ; I only have small woman fingers yet I cannot hit the correct character with my thumbs 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/112 "2016-03-07T17:06:20Z")
> [@appleaday](#): > > wearing relaxed fit jeans It was a sad day when men’s fashion diverged from being comfortable. You young idiots! What is wrong with you? May your clothes be your punishment! ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/113 "2016-03-07T17:19:44Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > It stopped last century. Even I don’t do that anymore. Nah because we learned to put two spaces after sentences when I learned how to type in Grade 9. And that was only in 1987… on an electric typewriter… Wait. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/114 "2016-03-07T17:35:08Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > These days, it doesn’t even seem like boys even bother brushing their hair. It’s like they wake up out of bed, look in the mirror, do the Fonzie move, and off to school they go. I prefer that to the buzz cut that all the redneck kids back in Florida wear. They look, to my eyes, like tiny convicts. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Hell, I used to \*unplug \*my landline. 😛 A kindred spirit! ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/115 "2016-03-07T17:38:33Z")
> [@bump](#): > > That hairdo is more \*ancient \*than merely old. The only women I’ve seen with that haircut are about the same age now that Blanche on \*The Golden Girls \*was when she had that same haircut. > > The dated one that I see these days and think “Man… they didn’t get the memo” is the 1990s bangs and long hair. [Like this?](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/05/e6/6d/05e66d6f43d21c591bdb26f1ec225080.jpg) The wispy bangs look eluded me, as I was living in Florida and had fine, wavy hair that tended to turn into a frizzfest the second I walked outside If I used the available straightening stuff, I had _greasy_, frizzy hair. ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/116 "2016-03-07T18:14:37Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > … by merely jerking them with your hand, as on ST:TOS. > > Hey! I just thought of another thing… I hope the “another thing” you thought of was referring to TOS and not the first portion of the phrase. 😛 Reading though these I’m seeing the term “Wristwatch” as opposed to just watch is giving an indication of age. For me personally at age 42, I felt really young last night going to a concert (Slayer) on a Sunday (Aka…worknight.) I was slapped back into age reality this morning as I went to the Dunkin Donuts drive through, and after being told the amount of my order after ordering, and seeing the amount displayed below the window, I was given too much change back. I looked at the receipt, and the girl at the window after seeing me, went back to the register and gave me the Senior Discount. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/117 "2016-03-07T18:21:36Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Not in Thailand. There’s no need to pull them out of their pocket, because their faces are glued to the screen their every waking moment. That’s pretty much the rule everywhere, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/118 "2016-03-07T18:27:37Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’d call it the “Eddie Munster”, because all I see is that crazy widow’s peak when I look at him. There is that. Still, I’ve seen that cut a lot in affluent areas like Bergen County. Its a haircut that parents seem to give their little boys (you’re paying for tuition AND therapy? Good for _You…!_) and I’ve seen it on some college kids as well as some guys in suits. The mousse and the styling forms a kind of small wave across the top of the forehead, but sometimes that wave is almost big enough to stick a LEGO surfer into… on a toothpick. The hair behind it is cut short, but slicked back… but the ‘slick’ is not shiny. Maybe they use some sort of dry-mousse or hairspray? The result, while not shiny, is so uniform that it does make me think that the wearer has on their head dark brown sculpted clay or playdoh. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/119 "2016-03-07T18:35:08Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > [Like this?](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/05/e6/6d/05e66d6f43d21c591bdb26f1ec225080.jpg) The wispy bangs look eluded me, as I was living in Florida and had fine, wavy hair that tended to turn into a frizzfest the second I walked outside If I used the available straightening stuff, I had _greasy_, frizzy hair. Yep. that’s it! Maybe sometimes with pulled back hair. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2016, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889/120 "2016-03-07T20:59:40Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > 😕 > > The offices and conference rooms where you work…don’t they have clocks on the wall? Correct. All modern flexible space, without fixtures like wall clocks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-make-you-look-old/747889.md?page=7)