Mary in Alexandria, Virginia, wonders when words like senior and senior citizen came to mean “elderly.” Senior comes from Latin senex, “old,” the source also of Senate and senile. In the 1930s, a politician helped popularize...
Q-tip cruise n.—Gloss: a pleasure trip aboard a trip, taken mainly by senior citizens. Note: So named because they have white hair and resemble the white cotton ends of Q-tips. «It was in mid-September 2006, the final cruise of the season...