# It's official: I'm in my fourth Decade. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 27, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-im-in-my-fourth-decade/381945 "2006-11-27T15:38:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-im-in-my-fourth-decade/381945/41 "2006-11-28T05:28:47Z")
The best part is now you are closer to 50 then 30! 😃 see it helps to put it into perspective doesn’t it? what–that doesn’t help? hmm…that is what most people say when I try and point that out! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-im-in-my-fourth-decade/381945/42 "2006-11-28T05:41:52Z")
Happy Birthday, **Shirley**! How could I have forgotten my Doper twin sister’s birthday? (I have a vague recollection that we have a brother around here somewhere, too, but I forget who it is. I’m sure the lack of recalling has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with my age, thank yew very much.) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-im-in-my-fourth-decade/381945/43 "2006-11-28T05:43:58Z")
And then I forgot to wish **KSO** a belated Happy Birthday. I’m WAY too young to have a swiss cheese brain. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-im-in-my-fourth-decade/381945/44 "2006-11-28T13:11:10Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] Happy birthday! You’re like wine, **Shirley** –you just get better as you age. 😉 [/QUOTE] And like a bottle of wine, make sure she stays horizontal, so her cork can stay wet, and so it doesn’t rot out and dribble all over the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-im-in-my-fourth-decade/381945/45 "2006-11-28T13:23:31Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] And then I forgot to wish **KSO** a belated Happy Birthday. I’m WAY too young to have a swiss cheese brain. [/QUOTE] I’ve had Swiss Cheese Brain for years already! At least it isn’t rotten. Happy Birthday to you, too! ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-im-in-my-fourth-decade/381945/46 "2006-11-28T17:03:03Z")
Hey, I turned 30 yesterday. I guess I’m in **my** 4th decade. Happy birthday! ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-im-in-my-fourth-decade/381945/47 "2006-11-28T17:22:29Z")
[QUOTE=Canadjun] You’re confusing calendar years with people’s ages. Since there was no year 0, the first decade AD went from 1 AD to 10 AD, the second decade from 11 AD to 20 AD, and so on. **However** an infant only becomes 1 **after** 365 (or 366, as appropriate) days; prior to that they are 0 years old (plus some number of months, days, etc.) So, notwithstanding how calendar decades, centuries, and millennia are counted, your first decade of life is the ten years 0-9, your second decade is the ten years 10-19, … your fifth decade is the ten years 40-49. [/QUOTE] 0 is not a counting number. There is no year 0. The moment you are born you are in the first year of your life. Your first birthday is on the \*anniversary \*of your birth, not the \*day \*of your birth. It signifies that one year has passed; that year is called Year One. A decade is ten years. After you have lived one year, (Year One), you have completed the first year of that decade. After you have lived ten years, (Year Ten), you have completed the tenth year of that decade. The decade is now over. When ten years have passed after the moment of your birth, (the years 1 - 10), you begin your second decade. In the case of the OP, forty years have passed since the moment of her birth. Her age is forty. She is beginning her fifth decade. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-im-in-my-fourth-decade/381945/48 "2006-11-28T17:54:11Z")
A belated Happy Birthday. Take heart that you are only a few days older than myself. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-im-in-my-fourth-decade/381945/49 "2006-11-28T18:16:32Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] I’ve had Swiss Cheese Brain for years already! At least it isn’t rotten. Happy Birthday to you, too! [/QUOTE] Soon, with your impending loss of bowel controls, they’ll be swiss cheese underpants. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-im-in-my-fourth-decade/381945.md?page=2)