meaning of "of age" - apology

[alhewison]

No: HPFGUIDX 43254

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "alhewison" <Ali at z...> wrote:
> 
> > 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. 
>  
> Amy agreed:-

At this point I meant to say disagreed, as I was actually agreeing 
with Amy - sorry, I pressed the button too quickly.
> 
>  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.
>  
> I say:- 
> 
> Whilst canon may yet prove me wrong, I must respectively disagree 
(with Banjoken)


> with you. In the UK the phrase "coming of age", or "of age" has a 
> quite specific meaning which is legally defined as at 18 years old
> (formerly 21). According to my trusty dictionary this means to 
reach  adult status. Whilst I accept that the WW might use different 
phrases  to mean different things, I can't think of any other phrases 
off the top of my head (though please feel free to show me!) I think 
that the average Brit (be they wizard or muggle) would phrase a 
sentence differently if it meant that they hadn't reached the 
relevant age (but not the age of majority). For example, if you were 
16 and  moaning that you couldn't take your driving test yet:
> 
> You wouldn't be told you're not of age, but you're not old enough.
> 
> Molly uses the same phrase "You're not of age" when replying to the 
> twins complaints about not being able to apparate (p 63 GoF UK 
> edition). Of course, this doesn't really help in establishing the 
> meaning of "of age", as your argument (or mine) would be equally 
> valid. But it is a further use of the phrase outside the tournament 
> context. 
> 
> Ali

Who hates replying to the wrong part of the posts - but is careless, 
and very very human!