h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You all seem to come out of it well, though!

Good idea El

In America, I think the birthdays that mean the most legally are:
16 - Driving age (though most states allow 15 or 15-and-a-half year olds drive with supervision, I think)
18 - You can smoke, vote, be prosecuted as an adult rather than as a minor, buy *ahem* adult items, gamble, join the military/be drafted (males turning 18 still have to fill out the selective service registration, even though the draft was abolished by Nixon. I don't know why)
21 - You can drink alcohol legally - though obviously underage alcohol consumption is commonplace.

I'm sure many of those are the same in other countries.

I've always thought of the 18th birthday as the biggest and most important, because it is more about responsibility than rights. It's the recognized age of adulthood.

Culturally, it's quite a big deal when you go from 29 to 30 or into your 40s. I'm sure that's the same in many places. I've known people to ignore their 30th birthday entirely, persisting as 29 year olds well into their 30s. Turning 30 can be seen as the end of one's youth.

I've always thought it was strange that people are congratulated on their birthday. It seems almost morbid, an acknowledgment that it's really something to have avoided the traps and pratfalls of life enough to survive a year.

Oh, and if you turn 100 in America (maybe elsewhere too, I don't really know), a man named Willard Scott will congratulate you on national television (The Today Show).

It used to be you´d get a visit from the Queen if you turned 100. These days she just sends a telegram though. Too many people turn 100.

Surely if you were 100 you wouldn't want another old fogey to come and remind you of it?

And your loved ones have to register you to get a telegram.

My Dad celebrated his 20,00th day alive on Sunday. He wondered awile ago how many days old he was, and because he's a nerd, he set up a spreadsheet to find out. Really it was just an excuse to have champagne.

What a nerdy thing to do!

Icy (16000 and counting)

Special birthdays in France are, I guess, a few small ones (7 is 'l'age de raison'), then 18 is the opportunity of a large party , and then you get the usual 20, 30, 40, etc. Some people I know didn'tlike 25, as it is also 'a quarter of a century'. One may celebrate twice, once with friends and once with family.

In Greece, they don't celebrate birthdays as much as they do namedays. The obvious advantages, maybe, are that you can always guess the date of your friends' namedays, and there is no excuse for 'I don't like being reminded that I get older', too. On the other hand, my own nameday would be God knows when, whereas my birthday is on Partick's day On one's nameday, friends and acquaintances may pass by, bring some gifts, and get a drink or cake or so. Of course, the namedayee may also organise a proper dinner party, but, obviously, rather with friends than just any acquaintances. And I think it's the namedayee who's traditionally paying in that case.

Regarding age: in France, girls can legally marry when they are 15 and boys when they are 18 An underage bride needs a written parental authorisation. Voting right comes dropped from 21 years to 18 in 1974. You can get a driver's license when you are 18, but you can learn to drive at 16 using the 'conduite accompagnee' scheme. That is to say: You go through some lessons and then you may or may not get some document allowing you to drive under supervision of an adult who registered for this purpose. After you have driven something like at least 3000km, and provided you are 18 years old or more, you can pass the proper driver's license test.

Oh, and alcohol ages in France: you can drink whatever you like when you are 18 or more. Apparently, it is illegal even to just be in a bar when you are under 15 (even when accompanied by adults).

And : 28 years is a perfect age (A2136070). One should enjoy it if so inclined, as it is unreasonable to hope to reach another perfect age in later life.

A nameday? I'm presuming it's a christening date or something?

I think it means the feast day of the saint you're named after (if you are). I share a name with a saint - although I couldn't even tell you whether he has one. I suppose he must.

You need to find out so you can celebrate it.

There's also one generic day for everybody else (All Saints' Day, probably)

Oh yes, namedays. That is, indeed, the day of the saint with your name.

In southern Germany (the generally more Catholic area) it's common to celebrate your name day. Celebrating birthdays was even (as far as I know) forbidden in Bavaria for a while, to encourage people to name their children after saints. Often, they'll just be named (first or middle name) after whatever saint's day it was when they were born.

I reached the age of Twenty Fifteen before I gave in to being no longer a Twenty something psychologically 30 was a barrier. 40 & 50 passed without concern.

Me and my best mate are considering having a joint 30th birthday party (she's moving up north, but as our birthdays are a month apart it seems like a good excuse to arrange something properly in advance. Three years in advance!).

The theme will be 'Mutton dressed as lamb' to celebrate our forthcoming inability to wear schoolgirl outfits, inappropriately short skirts, tight leopard-print t-shirts etc...

"The theme will be 'Mutton dressed as lamb' to celebrate our forthcoming inability to wear schoolgirl outfits, inappropriately short skirts, tight leopard-print t-shirts etc..."

I think you'll find, if some of my local examples are anything to go by, there's no such thing as inability to wear such items.

Inadvisable, certainly; Incapable, sadly, No.

Be that as it may, we're bothr easonably aware of what's ok and what's not. You have to be when you're individual enough already in your tastes and eclectic in your modes of dress (she's much better than me at it though!)... Knowing what's weird and what's plain wrong is important!

toybox, could you please explain more about the significance of turning 7 in France?

What I've got so far is at A54734565. It's obviously nowhere near done yet, but if you have any comments, please leave them here rather than start a thread on the entry.

Twenty-one today, twenty-one today, she'll have the key of the door, never been out so late before

That song hasn't been accurate for ages. It might be interesting to compare when each country reduced the age of majority to 18. In the UK I think it was about the time I turned 18 myself - which makes it a little earlier than the 1974 Toybox gives for France.

And six-year-olds can have the key of the door if they need it, I suppose, these days.

I knew the traditional present for turning 21 was a key, but I've never known why. Can you elaborate, TC?