Showing posts with label pet peeve. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pet peeve. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

To me, it isn't her 107th birthday

Google had a doodle for Grace Hopper's 107th birthday a couple weeks ago.  She died in 1992.

Birthday is defined as "the annual anniversary of the day on which a person was born, typically treated as an occasion for celebration and present-giving."

Anniversary is defined as "the date on which an event took place in a previous year."

So technically, I guess it could be considered her birthday.  It is the anniversary of the day she was born.  But if there isn't going to be celebrating, or gift-giving, to me it's not a birthday. 

I find it confusing to state it's someone's birthday after they've died.  Granted, when it's George Washington's "birthday" or that of Isaac Newton, I know they are long dead.

But the first assumption I make is that the person is still alive.  Even 107 isn't outside the realm of possibility. 

So I am disappointed when I discover that this person is actually dead.  Often, long dead. 

Can we please just call these occasions "birth anniversaries"?

Or if we want to coin a new word - birthaversary.