Monday, December 31, 2001
My dad used to make up goofy puns that would get the whole family laughing (or groaning, as the case may be). One day, he said something about “the forty-eleventh of Octember,” and then I chimed in with “yeah—in Nineteen Ninety-Twelve!” Well, that date is still approaching as I am writing this—and here’s how I figure it:
“Forty-eleven” would be forty-nine plus two, or fifty-one. Do you follow me so far?
Of course, no month has more than thirty-one days. But Dad provided for that with his “Octember”, which has to mean October continued into November. If November 1 (the day AFTER October 31) is counted as “Octember thirty-second”, then 19 days after that (November 20) would be “Octember fifty-first”. So “the forty-eleventh of Octember” would be the same as November 20. Are you still with me?
OK… so now we have to deal with the year, Nineteen Ninety-Twelve. This one’s easy: it’s three years after Nineteen Ninety-Nine (1999), which is, of course, 2002. So there’s our funny date in normal terms: November 20, 2002!
Of course, one could continue this nonsense indefinitely, but I think there’s a limit to it (or at least should be). If Ninety-Twelve sounds a little contrived, certainly Ninety-Thirteen is much worse. In German, it’s no better: Zwolf und Neunzig advances to Dreizehn und Neunzig, which sounds very Dumm. If I were Hispanic, I could get away with this until 2005: Mil Novecientos Noventa y Quince (Nineteen Ninety-Fifteen in English). The “teens” don’t start in Spanish until dieciseis (sixteen)!
At any rate, I sure hope that 2002 is a better year for all of us than 2001 was. The world needs peace and security, not more terrorism. Let’s pray for a good one!