Abby and Norma --- by Erika Hammerschmidt --- Aug 31, 2007

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TEXT OF COMIC:

When do I get to be a teenager?

In six years. You're seven, and the teens start at thirteen.

What does "teen" mean, anyway?

It comes from the word "ten." "Thirteen" is short for "three and ten," "fourteen" is short for "four and ten," and so on.

The Spanish equivalent is "dieci," which comes from "diez y," meaning "ten and." The first number that starts that way is "dieciseis," or sixteen. So if you spoke Spanish, you wouldn't be a teenager until your sixteenth birthday.

I think both Spanish and English are doing it wrong. It should start earlier. Twelve should be called "twoteen," and eleven should be called "oneteen."

If I could just find a language that made logical sense, I could be a teenager in only four years.

It's not all it's cracked up to be, Sharon.