A Rose by Any Other Name

The quote from Shakespeare, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” suggests that a name is just a label to identify one thing from another, one group from another, or one way of labeling something. The label doesn't really mean anything. It is the importance of the person, thing, or group that matters, not really what it is called. That being said, we also know there is meaning in words. Labels can be harmful and hurtful. We are all very aware (hopefully) of the work being done in Reframing Aging and the importance of our words as we refer to older adults.