19

In most of the United States, an age old enough to marry without parental consent and to be tried for crimes as an adult, but two years too young to buy alcoholic beverages.

"19" is also the name of a 1985 dance hit by music producer Paul Hardcastle; the title number refers to the average age of U.S. soldiers in the Vietnam War. The song is mostly synthesizers and sampled vocals, including those of Peter Thomas narrating the 1984 ABC-TV documentary "Vietnam Requiem." (ABC sued Hardcastle and his manager for sampling without permission.) The single went to number 1 in 13 countries, including Hardcastle's native England, and received the Ivor Novello award for The Bestselling Single Of 1985.

Fled user yam adds:
"In Canada, 19 is the legal age of adulthood in most provinces, including British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario and excluding Quebec and Alberta. The others I'm not totally sure about. You're allowed to drink and buy alcohol, buy cigarettes, join the army (such as it is..) and vote in provincial elections. The other big age of majority in canada is 18."

Fled user KamikazeOrigami contributes:
"If you know how to count in binary on your hands, 19 comes out to the sign language sign for "I love you". It's a nerdy, yet geekishly adorable alternative to saying the real thing when you're in public or around parents.

And that's my 10 cents."

In the card game Cribbage, there is no legal hand that will score nineteen points. As a matter of fact, there are also no hands that score 25, 26, or 27 points (all Cribbage hand scores fall between zero and 29, inclusive), but somehow "19" has come to be singled out for recognition.

Because there is no 19-point hand, it has become reasonably common in Cribbage parlance to refer to a hand scoring zero as a "nineteen pointer," or some similar usage. This can feel cleansing, if used in a self-deprecating manner, such as "Read 'em and weep: nineteen points!" However, if used by your opponent (in ways such as, "You sure are scoring a lot of nineteen pointers today"), there is a risk that you may feel like punching your opponent in the face.