Re: OT - gasoline prices...

John Wheaton wrote: 
"timepixdc" <timepixdc@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message

Over a "generation"...??? 

The length of a generation is generally considered to be the time
between birth and adulthood, or around 21 years.



Time for another lesson grasshopper;

generation -  "a time period of 30 years";

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/generation

average generation time of 30 years http://genforum.genealogy.com/dna/messages/129.html
the average being about 31 http://newsarch.rootsweb.com/th/read/GENEALOGY-DNA/2002-02/1012591317

But you were correct in saying that Nixon was over a generation ago!
Congrats!

John 


FWIW...

From dictionary.com

gen·er·a·tion Audio pronunciation of "generation" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (jn-rshn)
n.

1. All of the offspring that are at the same stage of descent from a common ancestor: Mother and daughters represent two generations.

2. Biology. A form or stage in the life cycle of an organism: asexual generation of a fern.

3. The average interval of time between the birth of parents and the birth of their offspring.

4.
1. A group of individuals born and living about the same time.
2. A group of generally contemporaneous individuals regarded as having common cultural or social characteristics and attitudes...

(snip further )
*************************
Using the above can identify the differences in usage (??). Number one describes mother/daughter as two generations, thus "my generation" is my lifetime???

And then... number 3 makes the number different.

Then number 4 brings us all together... and makes for a much longer *time* frame.
***********************************

From The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition....

gen·er·a·tion (jn-rshn)
n.

1. A form or stage in the life cycle of an organism.
2. All of the offspring that are at the same stage of descent from a common ancestor.
3. The average interval of time between the birth of parents and the birth of their offspring.
4. A group of individuals born and living about the same time.
5. A group of generally contemporaneous individuals regarded as having common cultural or social characteristics and attitudes.

(NOTE number(s) 2, 4, and 5 all tend to lengthen the *time* of a generation)


From The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995

Main Entry: gen·er·a·tion
Pronunciation: "jen-&-'rA-sh&n
Function: noun
1 a : a body of living beings constituting a single step in the line of descent from an ancestor b : a group of individuals born and living contemporaneously
2 : the average span of time between the birth of parents and that of their offspring

(NOTE number 1,  )

From Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.

generation

1: all the people living at the same time or of approximately the same age [syn: coevals, contemporaries]
2: group of genetically related organisms constituting a single step in the line of descent
3: the normal time between successive generations;

(NOTE number(s) 1, 2, and 3... number 3 certainly would produce a lot of blathering in AGA over IT's use of "normal"...)

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2005 Denis Howe

generation

Gen. 2:4, "These are the generations," means the "history." 5:1, "The book of the generations," means a family register, or history of Adam. 37:2, "The generations of Jacob" = the history of Jacob and his descendants. 7:1, "In this generation" = in this age. Ps. 49:19, "The generation of his fathers" = the dwelling of his fathers, i.e., the grave. Ps. 73:15, "The generation of thy children" = the contemporary race. Isa. 53:8, "Who shall declare his generation?" = His manner of life who shall declare? or rather = His race,posterity, shall be so numerous that no one shall be able to declare it. In Matt. 1:17, the word means a succession or series of persons from the same stock. Matt. 3:7, "Generation of vipers" = brood of vipers. 24:34, "This
generation" = the persons then living contemporary with Christ. 1 Pet. 2:9, "A chosen generation" = a chosen people. The Hebrews seem to have reckoned time by the generation. In the time of Abraham a generation was an hundred years, thus: Gen. 15:16, "In the fourth generation" = in four hundred years (comp. verse 13 and Ex. 12:40). In Deut. 1:35 and 2:14 a generation is a period of thirty-eight years.

(NOTE: It seems that a "generation" *has* been getting shorter and shorter... :-) Down from 100 yrs to 38 yrs. Now, I might ask those who proclaim religious teachings to be supreme.. shall we use the 100 yrs or the 38 above all other definitions...????)


Also...  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation

And lastly... (whew)

From Websters New International Dictionary - Second Edition

"... The average lifetime of man..." " ... A generation is usually taken to be about 33 years..."

Thus, 33 years ago... it was 1972. Nixon served as Prez till '74, that's 31 years ago. So, those born in the 31 yrs from Nixons last service, until today, could be considered "one generation"... (???)
Shall we call it "the last Nixon-era generation"...??? It seems "agreed" that generation "yrs" are "generally" or "on average", etc.. time will tell...

;-)

I would suggest that the use of "number of years" in describing a 'generation' is for 'grouping' like age-groups into "generations". IE- the Boomer generation spans a number of years... to include those born between 1946 and 1964 (not even 20 yrs) and are lumped into ONE "generation". I propose that "our" generation began, and is still going on... Other "generations" are also living, but to say that Nixon (and his presidency) was not part of "our" (my) generation today is incorrect, IMMHO. Nixons "generation" was not *my* generation, but his generation overlapped *my* generation... and certainly had a large impact on it as well.

John, FWIW... you tread shaky ground when agreeing that Timepax may be correct about *anything*.

;-)

(end of coffee break)

gtski
.

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