eighteen

The all important age of adulthood in the united states and many other countries. When you reach this age, you may, among other things:

Legally sign an agreement or petition.
Own a company.
Smoke Cigarettes.
Vote.
View Porn.
Be in Porn.
Own a car.
Serve in the military.
Move away from your parents (Without a legal agreement.)
Run for some public offices (but not the presidency, for which you must be 35.)

This is also the legal age in Denmark. When you reach 18 years of age, you are allowed to:

• Drink alcohol (although you can legally buy licqour at a convenience store when you are 15 - and before 2000, there was no limit there either. It should also be noted that I have never heard of anyone below 18 getting in trouble with The Man for drinking before they turned 18).
• Get a driver's license (you can own a car before you turn 18, just don't let anyone see you drive it. One of my classmates had 3 cars when he was 16).
• Vote.
• Run for any seat in the government (prime minister, anyone?).
• Enter a legal agreement, such as a business contract, or a marriage.

You are required to:

• Go to the draft office for a medical examination, and be evaluated for army service (if you are male, that is. Females won't have to).

You are entitled to:

• If you are registered as a student in one of the approved institutions, you are entitled to a variable amount of money each month from the state, depending on your yearly income, etc.

Note that, before you are eighteen you may actually start a business, even though you can't sign any papers yourself. You are also allowed to pose for adult magazines from you're 15 (age of consent), with some limitations (and yes, full frontal nudity is allowed). You can view porn whenever you like, before and after your eighteenth birthday (well, if your parents let you, but who would tell them?).

Audited January 27, 2002

Eight"een` (?), a. [AS. eahtatne, eahtatne. See Eight, and Ten, and cf. Eighty.]

Eight and ten; as, eighteen pounds.

© Webster 1913.

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Eight"een`, n.

1. The number greater by a unit than seventeen; eighteen units or objects.

2. A symbol denoting eighteen units, as 18 or xviii.

© Webster 1913.