Why am I a Pensioner?

OAP- definition

A person who is old enough to receive a Pension from the Government

........BUT........

Why do I have to be known as 'a pensioner' or an 'old age pensioner' or worse an OAP?

My pension is my income, I've earned it and It's not what I am.

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What is the origin of the word pension?

Answer

The origin of pension is late Middle English (in the sense 'payment, tax, regular sum paid to retain allegiance'): from Old French, from Latin pensio(n-) 'payment,' from pendere 'to pay.' The current sense dates from the mid 19th century. Answers.com (wiki answers)

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Do you like the word “Pension”?

Monday, 23 November 2009 from 'Value my Pension.com'

According to new research released this morning, almost a fifth of all 18-24 year olds in the UK are putting off starting a pension because they don’t like the word.

72% of those surveyed associated the word “pension” with old age, 18% associated it with grey and the remaining 10% thought it was simply too old fashioned.

Such is the concern of this research, the Oxford English Dictionary has got involved and a campaign has been launched to find a new word or phrase to replace “pensions

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Then I'm not alone in disliking this label. It's such an old fashion derogeratory term. I mean what other group of people are labled by their income. Children are children, Teenagers are teenagers, adults are adults the elderly are pensioners, but why? Surely we can be Seniors as in other countries. In The USA and Canada we wouldn't be labeled 'Pensioners"

I want to be known as a Senior or Senior Citizen not an OAP.

OK yes I'll admit to being a 'grumpy old woman!'