Re: Zero

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Constructed Languages List [mailto:CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU]On
> Behalf Of Nik Taylor
> Sent: Tuesday, January 4, 2000 5:42 PM
> To: CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU
> Subject: Re: Zero
> Right, but "one year old" means "beginning of second year".  I seem to
> remember reading that in China (?), newborns were counted as "1".  "Five
> months old" is basically like saying "zero years, five months old", just
> as one might say "One year, six months".
IIRC, the Chinese actually traditionally reckoned age from conception, so
when the baby reaches three months of age out of the womb, they would start
calling him/her (I almost said 'it' -- why is it acceptable to call a baby
it but not an adult?) a year old.

I've noticed people using months to describe the age of babies all the way
up to 24 months/2 years. I heard a comedian once spoofing this concept,
wondering why adults don't use months for themselves :)

Eric Christopherson
raccoon@elknet.net