Q: Old vs older usage How would you say if you see a celebrity on TV and she has wrinkles and grey hair now.
Would you say she looks old or she looks older? 

A: One useful rule here, drawn from a code of manners in the American South, is that we do not comment on the appearance of others-- not their weight, their complexion, their attire, or their state of wrinkledyness. Saying that someone "looks old" is insulting language, just as if, to a child, I were to say "you're just a baby" or "you're too young to understand". This is a case where the niceties of grammarians must yield to the niceties of social interaction. Here's a lesson:  Student comments on a former teacher who didn't like hiphop music because "she was old". Asked "How old was she?", student (first year, about 18 yo) replied, "At least 30."
