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old age sercurity why not senior security  
(wonder who chose that ?  
dead , died - paassed on  
there are more that sound harsh to me just can't think of them right now .

Senior is defined as anyone over 55, but you can’t apply for old age security until you’re 65. So maybe that’s the reason they don’t call it “senior security”? I don’t think it’s meant to be “harsh” or offensive.

When introduced years back it was only for seniors 70 and over :at that time life expectancy was approximately 76-77 so those receiving it were likely just referred to as the “old age “ which for that time was likely politically correct.  
But OP has a good point it is very harsh to our senior people and could be changed.  
After all welfare is now called EIA employment and income assistance: unemployment insurance is now called EI employment income .

I didn’t need a further explanation. I understand where the OP is coming from. What I’m saying is that if they change it to “senior security”, then some people may think that when they turn 55, they can apply for it. And then be disappointed when they find they have to wait 10 more years. I was simply trying to provide an explanation for the naming of it. I’m not trying to offend anyone. I understand everything you are saying. But maybe “senior security” is not the right name for it. Why not “retirement security”or “65+ bonus”. As for being “dead” or “died” or “passed on”, what do you want to refer to it as? I personally think it is silly to find those words harsh or offensive.

Words that are harsh are words that aren't spelled right.

The many euphemisms we have for dying is a reflection of the traditional reluctance, as a society, to talk directly about death because it was perceived as bad luck, or would bring bad omens etc. It was basically taboo until fairly recently.  
 
Passed on  
No longer with us  
Kicked the bucket  
Called home  
Joined the Church Triumphant  
Six feet under  
Gone to Heaven  
Received their eternal reward  
Lost the battle  
Resting in peace  
 
There's probably a hundred of them in English. Those are what I can think of off the top of my head.  
 
As for OAS, I can guess at a couple of reasons:  
 
1. Like previously stated, as life expectancy has increased our perception of "old" has changed. But the reality is that it is income meant to support us towards the end of life. You know, when we're old, probably the last quarter or less of your life.  
 
2. The term Senior isn't legally defined. It's whatever you want it to mean. It can be young as 50, and as old as 75. You would have to define what a senior is to rename it. The word old is more o:bjective. The other renamings mentioned actually make semantic sense considering how the programs have evolved over the years.

Then just call it elderly security. As for for dying, that's just what happens.

I think that our initial negative reaction to those words has a lot to do with societal attitudes towards those things. As was previously mentioned, we have a boatload of euphemisms to refer to dying, because our culture sees death as something negative, never to be spoken about, even though it happens to all of us.  
 
I think old age security sounds harsh because we have placed growing old in a category that is negative. Socially we are programmed to seek out and prefer youth, beauty. Products are aimed to "reverse" aging, 20-somethings on Instagram get "preventative" botox to prevent wrinkles as long as possible.  
 
I think what needs to happen is a reassessment of what we consider to be negative. Growing old should not be an inherently negative thing and yet we have made it as such. There are a plethora of neutral des:criptors that some people dance around to avoid offending, even though the traits themselves are not inherently good or bad, they are just a trait. As an example, avoiding using the word fat to describe someone who is fat. Some people are uncomfortable with saying a black person is black and would rather refer to them as "African American" even if the person is quite literally neither. "Old age" sounds harsh because we have been socialized to think that being old is a bad thing (it is not, it is a neutral des:criptor).  
 
Some words sound harsh to us because they are, but 99% of the time they usually aren't, and we've just placed our own value judgments upon them.