elderspeak
English
editEtymology
editNoun
editelderspeak (uncountable)
- A simplified, patronizing speech style used by younger adults when addressing elderly people.
- 1998, Norbert Schwarz, Cognition, Aging and Self-Reports, page 193:
- In this case, the “communicative predicament of aging” is that elderspeak led to a decrease in the older adults' self-ratings of communicative competence yet it also improved their performance on the referential communication tasks.