Is "You look young" offensive?

[thedaffodils]

Hi,

I am reading an article about learning English in Chinese.

It said it is offensive to say "you look young" in English. If I say it to a young person or a middle-age person, he/she would think I mean he is inexperienced. If I say it to an older man, he would think I mean he only look young, but actually he isold.

It is proper to say "You don't look your age" or "You're still young".

Do you agree with that?

Thank you!

 

[Barb_D]

Personally, "you're still young" is patronizing. I know how old I am. I know how old I feel. I know what the statistics say about my lifespan. I don't need you to tell me any of that.

However, VERY generally speaking, hearing something like "I would have guessed you were younger" is a nice thing to hear when you're a middle-aged woman.

 

[erisenberke]

I think it depends on the person you say that to. If the person is not young, they probably take it as a compliment. But the verb "look" does not imply inexperience I guess, so even a young person would probably not be offended.

 

[Barb_D]

A 15-year-old does not want to be told they look younger. They want to look "grown up."

 

[Raymott]

I can remember when I had just graduated. Some patients and other people would say, "You look young to be a doctor". It didn't offend me, but it had me wondering "Well, what can I do about that?" Yes, it certainly can have the implication of "You look inexperienced" when said in the right context. I forget how Doogie Howser used to handle this - not that I was a Doogie Howser!
It's worse to say "You look too young to be a Supreme Court judge or whatever."

 

[MikeNewYork]

I saw my first patient when I was 23. When my client said "you look very young", I said "I was born at a very early age". We laughed and then went on. The dog had an intestinal foreign body (corn cob) and we fixed him.

 

[Tdol]

I don't think that the phrase is offensive- it depends on who it saying it and the context. If a stranger said it to me, I would be a bit surprised, but if a friend said it, I might feel pleased that I am not showing my age.