In greece your nine months older?

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I'm Macedonian!!!

No, I don't think they are counting those nine months in the age.

zoltan

IT is also an entymological phrase...KLINO TA 15 in other words the word KLINO is donated as to the fullcircle to your 15 th year as oppossed to your open(anixto) year of the current 14 th year.in other words you or i are in the process of beign 15..

cpinatsi

Of course not! Whoever told you that was making fun of you! Asimenia, what do you mean? We count from the date of birth, as is normal! I was born in August 1974, so now I am exactly 34 years old! I am not 34 and 9 months!

smaragda

i live in greece and it's the first time i listen about this thing!

Cortophagus

Not all, and i don't thing that most of us do so. I personally not. But they don't add the pregnancy years. Some people when they are asked about their age they say how many years they have "closed", while others say which age they cover. It's like saying that we live in the 21th century even if only the 20th has passed.

Lady S

This is the first time I hear something like that. Adding 9 months of pregnancy to your age sounds just weird. In my country, Bosnia & Herzegovina (and I guess in the whole world), the only date that matters is the day you were born. For example, if you were born in August 6th 1978, and today it is August 6th 2008, you are exactly 30 years old. Would you say in Greece that person is 31? I don't get it.

Babbis N

WHAT???
This is the most funny question I've ever answered.
Of course NOT true.
Next time if anyone tell you that we also count the "action" to catch a child , just don't believe him.

Greek_Warrior

No, we don't add 9 months. But we use the term 'close'. So when we say someone has 'closed' 10 years old we may say that this person is in his 11th year. Which is true because when a baby is born, although he/she is 0 years old he is in his/her 1st year of life!

Georgia S

No... we are not that crazy...!!! lol... no.. that's not happening in greece..!!! what a rumor though! XD

murphywingedspur

Yes, its true!! Not actually adding '9 months'', but just counting it as entering the next year! Greece isn't the only place to do this though....several other countries have this odd tradition too!

Artemis

Not quite sure what you mean there. When for instance you've had your 20th birthday they will say that you are 21. You've closed twenty years and are entering your twenty first etc.

Ms_S

Ok every one. The problem is here that everyone thinks they know the truth and Greece is so universally different! The mainland like Athens and Thessaloniki is SOOOO different from the teeny little islands and villages. I have found also that the north is very different from the south. Each village has their own little quirks and traditions and customs.
I HAVE experience the 'closing the year' thing. Both in Australia where I am from, and in an island I visited on holiday, but not where I live (in a small island in the Dodecanese). But in Australia it was really wierd. My Greek Australian frien got really annoyed with her Mum because he was from the teeniest little village (I'm talking tomato paste on burns mentality) and she used to put say 14 on the cake when my friend had turned 15. Like they were celebrating her past year of life that had closed. And then on another island I visited it was in reverse, she would be say 16 not 15, because she was entering her 16th year.

Its all about traditions and where you are from. I know all the people from Athens and such laugh when my husband talks about the evil eye. Which he utterly and wholeheartedly believes in. He even gets a frriends mother to 'take the curse' of him however she does that I dont know. He has an Evil eye above our daughter's door and above the door of his business...It think its all bull.

And then their are all the wives tales and remedies. Like for burns. I've heard tomato paste, toothpaste, butter.....so much nonsense. It all depends on where you are from, whether you are from a village or a city, and which generation you belong to.

asimenia

Yes it's true - for UK terms my daughter is 9yrs old and 1 month - in Greek terms she has closed 9 and on her way to 10 ... which is fine if it's said like that always but owning a children's clothes shop - I know they are going to put a year on the kids age if they have 'closed' 9 like my daughter - they say she is 10. VERY confusing!

THANK YOU VERGINA for backing me up - I swear that sometimes I live in a completely different country to the rest of the answerers! As you get older it's no fun to have a full year added!

asker - you will say you are 15 until you close it ----- STOP wishing your life away!

mangolover

would be cool tho.

Vergina

No,but Greeks add a whole year to their age! For instance, if you just turned 15, they'll say you are 15. In other countries if you turned 15 means you are fully 14, so typically you are 14 years old.
Confusing?Think of it this way: When you were born you were called 0 years old and when you had your first birthday you were called 1 year, right?
Well, in Greece I guess you are called 1 yo when you are born, then once you "closed" your first year you are called 2 already and so on...
PS:Apparently, many people in Greece are willing to be more grown than their real age..LOL

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