Fifty Plus (50+) - Are you spry?

My office identified two of my patients this afternoon as spry. They are not much older than I am. I pointed out that we never call 30 year olds as spry. No one would call Lance Armstrong spry. They presumably would call Dnvr Fox spry. I don't know why the whole thing bothers me, but it does. I can handle bifocals, bowel fixation, male-pattern balding and impotence but being called spry might snap my twig.

Any thoughts?

Adjective


S: (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?o2=&o0=1&o7=&o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&s=spry&i=0&h=0#c) (adj) agile (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?o2=&o0=1&o7=&o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&s=agile), nimble (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?o2=&o0=1&o7=&o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&s=nimble), quick (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?o2=&o0=1&o7=&o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&s=quick), spry (moving quickly and lightly) "sleek and agile as a gymnast"; "as nimble as a deer"; "nimble fingers"; "quick of foot"; "the old dog was so spry it was halfway up the stairs before we could stop it"
Not part of my vocabulary as a general rule, but far from offensive in my opinion.

Rick / OCRR

I don't feel or act old enough to be called 'spry'. If someone used that word to describe me, I believe I'd have to rethink everything.

...Now I've gotta go chase some kids off my lawn...:50:

No senator, I have never been registered as an agent for a foreig.............

oops, sorry, wrong glasses. Move along.

No, but I agree that Dnvr is spry.:roflmao2:

No, but I agree that Dnvr is spry.:roflmao2:
Uh-oh! :popcorn

I think of myself as spry-in-training. :thumb:

Am still an active runner and cyclist, and flexible enough to climb trees and wrestle my 13 year old nephew, who seems to think he's Cato and I'm Inspector Clouseau (although with less hair). Only trouble is, he's growing and I'm not.

I think your hang up (like mine!) is that even though the term is technically a compliment (see "agile, nimble, quick" above) in fact we only apply it to older people...however you define "older." So it's sort of a left handed (hey! I resemble that remark) compliment.

We really do not expect the person to whom we are applying the term to be "agile, "nimble" or "quick". Its sort of like, "...hey, you move pretty good for a big (fat) man". "She's a surprisingly handsome (ugly) woman". "He's a spry 50 year old."

I prefer to be thought of as an active guy. I'd rather people think of THAT as being surprising "for my age" than terms like spry.

Adjective

"as nimble as a deer"

I guess Matt Lauer wouldn't be classified as spry then. ;)

I don't need to sit down to put on socks; I can do it one foot at a time while standing. Is that spry? Or, would I need to be hopping up and down while putting on socks to be spry? One Spry Guy!

Like most polls, you left out an option:

"You kids get off of my lawn!"

I don't need to sit down to put on socks; I can do it one foot at a time while standing. Is that spry? Or, would I need to be hopping up and down while putting on socks to be spry? One Spry Guy!

I have sat down to put on my socks since I was a child. Not lazy, just clumsy.

John

Like most polls, you left out an option:

"You kids get off of my lawn!"


That's rye grass, not spry grass.

Spry conjures up visions of bounciness. Bounciness, of course, is associated with youth. It was Mark Twain, I believe, who said, "Youth is wasted on young people." Well, with all that, I do feel spry!

I think you are looking at the formal definition of spry.
There is an informal definition. 16 year old girls MAY refer to Lance Armstrong as being spry.
Usually it refers to older guys. And guys alone. But it colloquially refers to 'still capable of carnival knowledge.'
Some of you may say "you mean carnal knowledge". Maybe, but for me it always had to be fun, as in a carnival. If it wasn't fun, I wasn't interested. Thus, carnival knowledge.
Now, I'm 59. But I will not get personal and weigh in about my personal capabilities, except in personal situations.
dc

Have you tried the new spry salad dressings... I too put my socks on standing, however I 'sometimes' put my belt in the slacks before I put'em on cause it is easier.
I don't mind, or would not mind being called spry if some one did...left handed compliment or not, I take any way i can......................................................

Spry is a mish mash of two words

Spy and pry, which are related words (sort of)

So if you are asking if Dnvr spies and pries, the answer is - but is he spry? Well, I just don't know.

Ask Chipcom!

Can't wait for DnvrFox to show up here...
I can't possibly be as old as my grandfather who was spry. Never...

Spry seems to be reserved to describe an old person, so of course I'm not...


*ask me again in ten years

Maybe it's a regional thing. Here in kentucky if you're over 70 and not senile or wheelchair bound you're spry.

Adjective


S: (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?o2=&o0=1&o7=&o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&s=spry&i=0&h=0#c) (adj) agile (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?o2=&o0=1&o7=&o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&s=agile), nimble (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?o2=&o0=1&o7=&o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&s=nimble), quick (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?o2=&o0=1&o7=&o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&s=quick), spry (moving quickly and lightly) "sleek and agile as a gymnast"; "as nimble as a deer"; "nimble fingers"; "quick of foot"; "the old dog was so spry it was halfway up the stairs before we could stop it"


Funny that the definition has no implication of "old," but in the example it is quite explicit.

I think of myself as spry-in-training. :thumb:

+1! When I'm 80 I'll be "spry". Now I'm just "surprisingly active for my age".

SP
Bend, OR
"The older I get, the better I was."

Spry seems to be reserved to describe an old person, so of course I'm not...


*ask me again in ten years

I agree that spry is reserved for an old (or older) person. However, to fit the definition, said older person must still have it.

Now, define IT.

http://www.geocities.com/alicestrong/2670671790_602563d8d2.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/alicestrong/2670671790_602563d8d2.jpg

Oh Alice, you sure know what IT is. ;)

Am I spry? No. I'm "Doc". Sometimes, especially at work, I'm Grumpy. Given the onset of Spring, I've been Sneezy. Lately, I've been Sleepy as I have for several consecutive nights awakened, wide-eyed, and been unable to return to a solid slumber. If this continues, I'll be Dopey, assuming that I'm not there already. I could conceivably be Happy if I can parlay a new ride at a good deal within the next few weeks; however, at this point I'm too Bashful to go into great detail about it.

But spry? I don't think so. Care to step outside?

Oh Alice, you sure know what IT is. ;)


...or is this it?

http://www.geocities.com/alicestrong/cousin_it.jpg

I sure do appreciate this thread. I used it with my graduate students to illustrate Hubert Blumer's "symbolic interactionism", in which he offered the following:
"People act toward things based on the meaning those things have for them; and these meanings grow from social interactions... Language gives people a way to negotiate meaning through symbols. When we name something we are, in effect, giving it a meaning. Hence, the language we use with others creates a context or frame of reference creating the possibility of common understanding."

So, as I read the OP, I believe that the "old" factor is part of the meaning ascribed to spry. Yet, it is also an indication that those particular individuals deemed old are seen in a positive light. What our younger brothers and sisters have yet to learn is that most of us are spry.

...or is this it?

http://www.geocities.com/alicestrong/cousin_it.jpg

No, that's COUSIN It. Duh!

SP

Wan't Hook's assistant Spry?

I wonder if Hugh Hefner's girlfriends think he is spry.:p

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u250/rallen94402/hefner_wideweb__470x2880.jpg

I wonder if Hugh Hefner's girlfriends think he is spry.:p

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u250/rallen94402/hefner_wideweb__470x2880.jpg

That's just wrong. :D

Are they triplets?

HI,
I told my Dr I started riding a bike a lot and he said to take it easy ( at my age:().... Now that not a very nice thing to say to a almost SR..I don't feel 58 y/0 I just don't feel spry....
SO many words people need to be careful how they use them to describe age.
I don't feel spry but I do feel little sprung..:twitchy:.
Doug

If you don't feel spry maybe you should have some Pie>>>

I wonder if Hugh Hefner's girlfriends think he is spry.:p

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u250/rallen94402/hefner_wideweb__470x2880.jpg

nope, but they sure know 'sugar'

I'd be 'spry'' for Halle Berry, iff'n I had to be spry...

:thumb:

I'd have spry down but I'm currently working on the excellent growl Clint Eastwood demonstrates in "Gran Torino".

I wonder if Hugh Hefner's girlfriends think he is spry.:p

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u250/rallen94402/hefner_wideweb__470x2880.jpg

It is well publicized that Mr. Hefner takes Viagra. By definition (at least in my books) any elderly man who needs Viagra is not spry. I'll bet the his triplets agree. What about you?

It is well publicized that Mr. Hefner takes Viagra. By definition (at least in my books) any elderly man who needs Viagra is not spry. I'll bet the his triplets agree. What about you?

Maybe Mr. Hefner takes Viagra because he has heart disease.:lol:

"Researchers at the University of Alberta have shown that Viagra, the popular drug prescribed for erectile dysfunction, can improve heart function and potentially save the lives of people with specific heart problems"

Someone please ask the girls about it.

Maybe Mr. Hefner takes Viagra because he has heart disease.:lol:

"Researchers at the University of Alberta have shown that Viagra, the popular drug prescribed for erectile dysfunction, can improve heart function and potentially save the lives of people with specific heart problems"

Someone please ask the girls about it.

Everything you are saying is most likely correct. However, we are speaking about sprightly issues here not to mention that this is BF discussion, not a PhD dissertation. Now, performance enhancing drugs are a no no in professional bicycle racing. Right? Viagra, by definition, is a performance enhancing drug, is it not? Being spry is a natural state of elderly wellness. Viagra artificially enhances "spry" so its users, in this case Heff, are not truly spry.

Since this is a BF forum and not Harvard, I declare my definition correct.

I'd have spry down but I'm currently working on the excellent growl Clint Eastwood demonstrates in "Gran Torino".

I LOVED that movie!!! (Points finger "gun" at kids. Pow!)

It is well publicized that Mr. Hefner takes Viagra. By definition (at least in my books) any elderly man who needs Viagra is not spry. I'll bet the his triplets agree. What about you?

At his age and with those three women on his arms, he'd be crazy to not take Viagra.

You left off the option of,

Even if you were 80 and had your current body, you would still not be spry.

I have one wife and three horses, and he has one horse and three wives.

At his age and with those three women on his arms, he'd be crazy to not take Viagra.

Yeah, but does he take one or three pills at a time?

Here are the triplets. Before the triplets, he had twins.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u250/rallen94402/hottest-female-triplets05.jpg

Here are the triplets. Before the triplets, he had twins.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u250/rallen94402/hottest-female-triplets05.jpg

Yikes!! OK, stop it. I'm starting to feel more spry than usual and my wife might notice. Not sayin' that's so bad. :p