人的一生，徘徊在新與舊之間：舊，是歲月的累積，經驗的傳承；新，是當下的開端，現在進行式，充滿無限創意，開啟各種可能性。
舊的不去，新的不來。年長者和年青人最大分別，是年齡上的差距，思想上的代溝。
年長 old = not young。Old age 暮年 is the part of life when you have passed prime time。
所以，年青時要為老邁時未雨綢繆，作退休計劃的準備：You need to start putting money away for your old age. Old age can bring many problems. 人老麻煩多，尤其是健康上的毛病，陸續出現。
An old person 長者，an old man or an old woman 有多種說法，直率的，委婉的，尊隨悉便：the elderly 上了年紀的人/the aged 年邁的人/the old people 老人家/retiree 退休人士/old age pensioner 領養老金的人/senior citizen 耆英、資深公民/old salt 老海員/veteran 老兵、老戰士、退伍軍人。
No Spring Chicken
Old people 比較幽默的說法：grey-haired/getting on/over the hill/advanced in years/full of years/past your prime/you are no spring chicken. These are all words and expressions used to describe someone who is old, often used humorously.
Old people 比較正經和帶點學術味道的詞語是 geriatric（老年人），例如：geriatrics 老年醫學；geriatric medicine, care, hospital are for old people；a geriatric vehicle 是老爺車，old and in bad condition。老人統治的國家是 gerontocracy；老年學專家是 gerontologist。
Old 的另一涵義是舊，New 新的相反詞。Old 可以指舊頭腦、舊事物、舊地方。
舊 Old = not new。Old-fashioned clothes 過時的衣服/a pair of old shoes 一雙舊鞋子/one of our oldest traditions 古老的傳統/the story is as old as the hills 悠久的陳年舊事。
The Good Old Days
The good old days 是往昔的好時光；the bad old days 是從前的苦日子。
The Old School 是保守派、元老派，old-fashioned 落伍的守舊派、舊家風衛道之士。A New Man 是新派男子，樂意分擔家務，負責一部分照顅子女的工作。
工作方面，有老手，有新丁，someone new to the game 指未有任何經驗的新人，one with no previous experience of the activity。老馬識途，即是 an old hand at something 老手，經驗豐富的人：one who has a lot of experience of the activity。
Old timer 是老行尊、老居民、老資格的人。至於 the old guard 則指一批在機構或集團，工作了很多時間的職員，你很難說服他們改變看法或做事方法。You’ll never manage to persuade the old guards to make any changes. Old habits die hard 江山易改，品性難移；老狗學不到新把戲 You can’t teach an old dog new tricks，朽木不可雕！隨着年齡增長，做人處事的方法便開始定型，很難再創新、再改變。
New Blood
公司或機構如果要除舊報新，便要注入新血 new blood，革除陋習，力求創新，以圖改善現狀。A new broom 剛上任擔當重要新職位，往往被人認為是可以大幅改革的人，the new guy is expected to break new ground 開拓新領域。
朋友是舊的好。西方社會，重視老同學的友誼和網絡，有两個流行的慣用語：一個是 the old-boy network 校友關係網：老同學間互相關照，the system by which men who went to the same school, belong to the same club use their influence to help each other；另一個是 the old school tie 人脈情結：a system based on social class and the old school tie：英國私立學校同學間的校友情誼，共同繼承的思想觀念，充分利用自己具影響力的社會地位，幫助學長學弟。
Old Economy/New Economy
經濟，有舊有新。傳統經濟的生產力，來自舊工業、重工業的類型，an old economic system is based on old types of industry such as steel, energy, and machinery。
新興經濟，則以新科技和電子計算機為基礎，注重學識高的僱員，an economic system is based on computers and modern technology, and is dependent on educated workers，典型的行業代表是新媒體 new media。
Old Money/New Money
財富，有舊有新。Old money 指傳統的大户人家、名門望族。New money 指新興有錢一族，不憑父蔭，白手興家聚積的財富；the new rich 相等於 people who have recently become very rich, as opposed to people whose families have always been rich，意思相近的 the nouveau riche，則是喜歡炫耀自巳財富的暴發户。
本專欄逢周二、五發表
