People aged 65 and over would prefer to be called "grey panthers" than old-age pensioners, a new survey suggests.
Some 97% of over-65s said they disliked the term "elderly" as politicians faced calls to use phrases which represent the "diverse demographic" of Britain's older generation.
Who are you calling an old-aged pensioner?
The survey of 2,500 pensioners found two in five people preferred the term "senior citizen" to elderly or OAP, while "retired person", "silver surfer" and "grey panther" were also favoured.
Every region of the country listed "senior citizen" as the most popular term, except pensioners in the south-west of England and Yorkshire who preferred to be addressed as "a retired person", the survey found.
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Aston Goodey, distribution and marketing director at retirement income specialists MGM Advantage, which commissioned the research, said: "The retired nation constitutes 17% of the UK population - a sizeable and influential demographic.
"However it is important to remember that older people are not one homogenised group but a diverse demographic that Government, society and industry cannot afford to refer to as one entity.
"While there is no consensus amongst older people as to how they would like to be addressed, they are deeply aware of society's desire to categorise them.
"Senior citizen may be the most popular term of reference but there were strong showings for 'senior', 'retired person' and even 'grey panther'.
"It's high time we talked to the older population as individuals, and strive to ensure products and services are tailored to their needs."