greyhead

   An ad hoc term used almost as an endearment in The Philanderer, by Stanley Kauffmann: ‘She reached over and touched his hair. “Greyhead,” she said.’ The woman and the man she is addressing are lovers. The term recalls ‘Greybeard’, which was at one time used in a contemptuous way to address old men, whether they were bearded or not. In Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew (2:i), the elderly Gremio says to the young Tranio: ‘Youngling, thou canst not love so dear as I.’ Tranio replies: ‘Greybeard, thy love doth freeze.’ Gremio is by no means abashed, and is contemptuous in his turn, referring to Tranio as ‘Skipper’, i.e. one who skips, a child. ‘Good greybeard’ occurs vocatively again in Henry the Sixth Part One (3:ii) and is used elsewhere in the plays in third person reference. The Limits of Love, by Frederic Raphael, has a wife saying to her husband: ‘You’re getting on a bit for playing soldiers, old greysides.’ This is said affectionately, but his reply is: ‘Here, I say. steady on!’