elderly home? [home for the elderly]

[malgosia]

I found this phrase - elderly homes - in a few headlines but in the rest of the articles they were referred to as homes for the elderly.

Is an elderly home an example of the language of newspaper headlines or is it commonly used?

 

[JamesM]

It is not commonly used around me. I think it's an example of "newspaperese". An elderly home would be an anthropomorphism for an old house to me.

 

[sound shift]

I don't use the term "elderly home"; I don't think it's common here.

 

[NHHL]

- So "elderly home" is not commonly used around you guys. Are "old people's home" and "rest-home" common?

Thanks

NHHL

 

[Copyright]

I found this phrase - elderly homes - in a few headlines but in the rest of the articles they were referred to as homes for the elderly.

Is an elderly home an example of the language of newspaper headlines or is it commonly used?

I think it's limited to headlines -- shorthand for "homes for the elderly" which takes up too much room in a headline, but which they obviously use in the body copy where they have more space.

 

[owlman5]

I hear "old folks' home" every now and then. I usually hear "nursing home". I've also heard "rest home", but I don't hear it much nowadays. People are always looking for euphemisms for these places. "Senior living communities/centers" and others pop up in commercial language and in people's conversations.