Good for you, re: ABC. When you’re right, you’re right. Sounds like that piece was not right for that editor or that pub, but that’s what it means in that context, and sometimes it’s worth sticking to your guns.

I try to give lots of leeway for English as a second language and cultural differences in communication. I don’t think “old” was meant to refer to age, but to experience. Oh, if only the original author knew just how snarky we “older writers” can be, when we’re irked. We’re like cats, basking in the sunlight — prone to do what cats do when puppies try to nip their tails. We can be generous to a fault, but only where we see potential and a bit of humility.