4 ms·
That list makes me very sad. Not because it's not interesting, which it is, but because it'd be so much more interesting if it discussed each item as it went.
by david-given 11y ago
That list makes me very sad. Not because it's not interesting, which it is, but because it'd be so much more interesting if it discussed each item as it went.
This one, for example:
People’s names are assigned at birth.
OK, maybe not at birth, but at least pretty close to birth.
Alright, alright, within a year or so of birth.
Five years?
You’re kidding me, right?
Don't leave me there! Tell me which culture assigns names more than five years after birth!
I'd love to see an annotated version.
- JorgeGT 11y ago>Tell me which culture assigns names more than five years after birth! In the United States of America it is common for females to change their name at marriage, substituting their birth surname for that of their husband. Also, in many tribal cultures the definitive name is not assigned until an adulthood rite of passage has been passed. Adult names also change to reflect upgrades in social status such as the completion of a PhD, admittance into a society, acquisition of nobility titles, etc.
- david-given 11y agoThat's changing a name, not assigning a name. The list is implying that some people don't have names for at least five years after their birth. ...or maybe it's not; without expanding on the items in the list, it's kinda hard to tell.
- ewindisch 11y agoI knew someone, an American, whose wife was (I believe) Chinese and they did not give their baby a name for one year. They lived in California where it was legally required to assign the name in the first year, I'm not certain if they would have waited longer, or not, if they would have been allowed.
- msbarnett 11y agoIt's rare, but in cases of amnesia grown adults with no memory of their identity would have a name assigned to them sometime after receiving medical attention.