How young can you get?

May 4th, 2009 at 07:00am Barry Wood

Beginnings and endings can be challenging concepts, especially when applied to life. A minor aspect crops up in listings of age categories for children. Sometimes you’ll see a phrase such as “from zero to 2 years old.”

I don’t want to delve too deeply into philosophy here, but no one is really age “zero.” As soon as you’re born, the clock starts ticking.

For a category meant to include the extremely young, make it something like “up to 2 years old.” That should do it.

Also, if you say “age,” you don’t need to say “old.” For example, either of these will work: “The program is for children from age 5 to 10 years” or “The program is for children from 5 to 10 years old,” but NOT “from age 5 to 10 years old.”

In fact, “children from age 5 to 10″ is probably enough, because ages, at least for people, are assumed to be in years unless otherwise specified. 

Entry Filed under: wordiness, word choices, strict usage