people ages/aged 18 or older

[EdisonBhola]

Hi all, I got the following sentence from the website http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/alcohol-facts-and-statistics:

"In 2012, 87.6 percent of people ages 18 or older reported that they drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime."

My question is, shouldn't it be "people aged 18 or older", which means "people who are aged 18 or older"?

 

[suzi br]

You are right, it is probably a typo, the two letters are next to each other and often get switched in my own typing!

 

[EdisonBhola]

Thanks. I asked this question because I frequently come across people writing "ages" instead of "aged" in similar sentences. I think it's acceptable in AmE to write "ages"?

 

[suzi br]

Thanks. I asked this question because I frequently come across people writing "ages" instead of "aged" in similar sentences. I think it's acceptable in AmE to write "ages"?

I have never noticed it, perhaps a native US person will come in and comment.

 

[JordyBro]

It's not a typo. "Ages X and older" is a set phrase. It's modern too. Link

 

[suzi br]

Or a native Aussie!
I wonder what the contexts are for the uses? It seems to be a recent phenomenon, so in my eyes it would still be "wrong" as language changes always go through a lengthy phase of being wrong until they are universally accepted.

 

[wandle]

The US NIH page linked by EdisonBhola contains repeated examples of the usage 'people ages 18 or over' or similar: it can hardly be a typo.

It is quite wrong in my opinion.
There are two easy and obvious correct alternatives: 'people aged 18 or over' and 'people of ages 18 and over'.
Thus there is no benefit to be gained from the ungrammatical usage.

The Ngram linked by JordyBro is not directly relevant, because it only shows the phrase 'ages 18 or over'. That phrase in itself is not the real issue.

It is putting together the two nouns 'people ages', with no preposition such as 'of', which is the grammatical error.

It is comparable to saying 'people cars' instead of 'people with cars'.

 

[Copyright]

I would have only said "aged," but I did a Google search and "ages" is everywhere:

Google: "people ages * and over" (383 results – last page of results)
Google: "people aged * and over" (319 results – last page of results)

I'm suitably appalled.

 

[Myridon]

Google: "people ages * and over" (383 results – last page of results)
Google: "people aged * and over" (319 results – last page of results)

While we're at it:
Google: "people age * and over" (330 results - last page of results)

 

[Copyright]

While we're at it:
Google: "people age * and over" (330 results - last page of results)

Thanks for the addition. It's looking like we can say almost anything.