meaning of "of age"

[lupinesque]

No: HPFGUIDX 43252

Banjoken wrote:

> I think the "of age" that Dumbledore was talking about was specific 
> to the tournament. 17 was the age limit the MoM set for students 
who 
> wanted to enter the tournament. It doesn't necessarily correspond 
to 
> anything else in the wizarding world. 

Well put, Ken, and I thought about that possibility but didn't have 
the mental wherewithal to explain why I thought it wasn't the case.  
I probably still don't, but it just doesn't read quite right to me.  
I think that when he refers to "of age" he is indeed referring to 
something outside of the Tournament rules, and I'll take a whack at 
explaining why.

If the only meaning of "of age" is "this is the age at which I have 
determined you may do activity X," then it doesn't spring to the 
tongue as a useful expression for explaining who may and may not do 
activity X.  Imagine a family in which the girls are allowed to 
pierce their ears at age 15.  That is the only significance of the 
age 15 in this family and their society.  So would you ever hear 
these conversations?:

13-year-old daughter to mom:  "Why can't I get my ears pierced NOW?"
Mom to daughter:  "Because you're not of age."

or

Kids to dad:  "Who can get their ears pierced?"
Dad to kids:  "The ones who are of age, 15 years old."

Possible, but not a likely way to say it.  Mom would say "because in 
this family the rule is you may get your ears pierced when you're 
15."  Dad would say "the ones who are 15."  Only if 15 meant "of age" 
in some other context familiar to all of them would this phrase be 
likely to be used.

Amy Z
who got 'em done at age 6, 12 years before she was "of age" for 
anything really useful