# What means "young'? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 23, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409 "2009-05-23T18:36:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/1 "2009-05-23T18:36:39Z")
Young is a measure of age. Young is not a measuew of health. If you’re 75, you’re 75. Nothing can make you younger. Grow up! Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/2 "2009-05-23T18:48:22Z")
Context? ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/3 "2009-05-23T19:00:54Z")
Frame of mind? Perspective? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/4 "2009-05-23T19:09:30Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Context? Context isn’t relevent. The word, as it applies to us living beings, has only one meaning. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/5 "2009-05-23T19:12:01Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > Frame of mind? > > Perspective? What in the world do those things have to do with how old you are? ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/6 "2009-05-23T19:12:38Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Context isn’t relevent. The word, as it applies to us living beings, has only one meaning. At a gymboree: That child seems young for his age. At a senior citizen’s home: You’re as young as you feel. No difference? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/7 "2009-05-23T19:14:45Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > What in the world do those things have to do with how old you are? I must not be understanding your question. The term young could be seen objectively or subjectively. There isn’t much agreement about the objective part. Are you asking people’s opinions about what is objectively old? ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/8 "2009-05-23T19:16:38Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > I must not be understanding your question. The term young could be seen objectively or subjectively. There isn’t much agreement about the objective part. > > Are you asking people’s opinions about what is objectively old? Doesn’t seem like he’s asking anyone anything. Seems like a journal entry to me. Well, more like MySpace, but you get my drift. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/9 "2009-05-23T19:18:36Z")
By ‘context’ I mean what caused you to make the statement in the OP? Because it sounds like something you’ve thought about in response to someone saying they feel young. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/10 "2009-05-23T19:26:03Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > At a gymboree: > That child seems young for his age. > > At a senior citizen’s home: > You’re as young as you feel. > > No difference? :dubious: That child seems less developed for his age. that doesn’t change her/his age one whit. And the “young as you feel” thing is just a panacea for getting old, or what people say is bad about getting old. My main gripe is companies that promise youth for buying their products, and assure us that growing old is a bad thing and a social ill. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/11 "2009-05-23T19:35:21Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > Doesn’t seem like he’s asking anyone anything. Seems like a journal entry to me. Well, more like MySpace, but you get my drift. Wrong. I’m stating my opinion that our society has attached a stigma to the natural process of aging. I’ve heard people (mostly women) say something like “she needs to take better care of herself”, meaning, and I’ve asked, “she needs to put on some make-up and dye her hair”. With men it’s about going bald, which is actually a sign of virility. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/12 "2009-05-23T19:40:09Z")
IMO ‘Need to take better care of her/himself’ means - Need to eat healthier, drink less alcohol, stop smoking… stuff like that. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/13 "2009-05-23T19:42:59Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > By ‘context’ I mean what caused you to make the statement in the OP? > > Because it sounds like something you’ve thought about in response to someone saying they feel young. What made me think about this is answered in Post #10. I don’t think one can set youth as a goal. You can set aging as a goal, but that can be achieved only by staying alive. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/14 "2009-05-23T19:45:04Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Wrong. I’m stating my opinion that our society has attached a stigma to the natural process of aging. Ah. I’ve heard it stated as ‘youth-obsessed culture.’ Lots of people agree with you. And there’s evidence for it in many ways. . . especially in the US. So. . .is there a question in there somewhere? Or you just stating your opinion? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/15 "2009-05-23T20:16:48Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > IMO ‘Need to take better care of her/himself’ means - Need to eat healthier, drink less alcohol, stop smoking… stuff like that. It would seem so, but I asked. Most were talking about lipstick and hair, that kind of thing. Not about health. The worst thing about smoking, I guess, is that it causes wrinkles. :rolleyes: Is not dyed, permed, and treated hair considered “healthy”? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/16 "2009-05-23T20:20:36Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > Ah. I’ve heard it stated as ‘youth-obsessed culture.’ Lots of people agree with you. And there’s evidence for it in many ways. . . especially in the US. > > So. . .is there a question in there somewhere? Or you just stating your opinion? This is the place for opinion, is it not? I do ignore the “humble” part. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/17 "2009-05-23T20:28:24Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > This is the place for opinion, is it not? I do ignore the “humble” part. 😃 OK, read the opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/18 "2009-05-23T20:56:59Z")
> [@Unknown](#): > > “When I was a boy of 14 my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learnt in seven years.” If someone can get me a _definite_ cite for the author (either full text link or publication and page number), I’d be much obliged. AFAICT it’s **not** Mark Twain… ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/19 "2009-05-23T21:07:52Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > If someone can get me a _definite_ cite for the author (either full text link or publication and page number), I’d be much obliged. AFAICT it’s **not** Mark Twain… Is that post by **Unknown** you cited somewhere in this thread? It might be easier to find the quote if seen in context of the whole post. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409/20 "2009-05-23T21:10:34Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > If someone can get me a _definite_ cite for the author (either full text link or publication and page number), I’d be much obliged. AFAICT it’s **not** Mark Twain… Well, I googled " But when I got to be 21" and all the sources insist it was Twain. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-means-young/497409.md?page=2)