[5] Scholars from a range of disciplines including humanities, health professions, and social science have argued that the silver tsunami does not constitute neutral language to describe population aging, calling it "dangerous"[16] and "a nasty metaphor for older adults".
For example, Andrea Charise (2012) writes that the prevalent use of this metaphor in popular and professional media "testifies to the barely conscious figurative language that serves to construct perceptions of an aging population.
"[17] "The Winter 2010 President’s Message from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research begins by invoking "the ‘grey tsunami’—the tide of chronic diseases arising from an aging population which threatens to swamp our health-care system, economy, and quality of life."
[5] In a content analysis (2009) of The Economist’s digital archive between 1997 and 2008, Ruth Martin, Caroline Williams, and Desmond O’Neill conclude that "There is a noticeable trend to ageism in one of the most influential economic and political magazines in the world.
"[18] In place of the silver tsunami's "apocalyptic" imagery,[19] critics have suggested abandoning the metaphor in favour of different, and ideally more neutral, terminology with less overtly ageist connotations.