When 舊 and when 老?

[Christa]

Here's a question for you geniuses: under which circumstance should one use 舊 and  老 to mean "old". I mean, I seem to be fine using 老 to mean old with people but when should we use 舊 to mean old? And when should we use  老 to mean old with things other than people?

[Lu]

舊: not new

老: not young

 

That's the main difference.

[imron]

Wonderfully concise.

[Christa]

3 hours ago, Lu said:

舊: not new

老: not young

 

That's the main difference.

 

Awesome!

 

So would that mean that, in practice, 老 can only be used with living things?

[Christa]

Actually though, I just had a thought. Wouldn't you say 老故事 and 老情歌 rather than 舊故事 and 舊情歌?

[zander1]

3 hours ago, Christa said:

老 can only be used with living things?

 

Although I think Lu’s answer is broadly correct, as with all things in language these rules are not set in stone. E.g you can and will often hear 老房子

[Publius]

It's not that simple. Sometimes it's just a matter of collocation. But generally,

老 puts emphasis on the duration of time.

舊 puts emphasis on the absolute past, in contrast with present.

So 老字號 has existed for a long time. 舊東家 is no longer your employer. 老情人 is the person you have an entangled history with and still have feelings for. 舊愛 is the person you once loved but dumped for 新歡.

Compare the different descriptors in 舊時代遺留下來的老問題.

 

The senses sometimes converge, otherwise there wouldn't be compounds such as 老舊(房屋).

When applied to concrete things, 舊 conveys a sense of used, dilapidated appearance. 老 not necessarily so. You can have an old model of car that's fresh off the production line. It's a 老/舊款車 but not a 舊車.

[Lu]

I knew there would be a better answer! Thank you Publius.

[ParkeNYU]

Then how would you fit 古 into all this? Specifically ancient? 舊 to the extreme?

[imron]

Ancient - in the biblical sense. This can clearly be seen by analysing the components of the character and noting that it's a cross upon a hill*

 

*not strictly accurate.