About Celebration?

Sweet Sixteen refers, I think, to the old saying "Sweet 16 and never been kissed" (and subsequent ruder versions). It is not a milestone birthday in the UK, in the way that 18 and 21 are. I don't think you could change it to Sweet 15 to reflect your country's tradition - what would the translation be of what it's called in your language?

Some suggestions of ailments and illnesses for Hypochondria 101:

Headache / Migraine

Tooth ache

Back pain

Stomach ache

Cold

Ear ache

Tonsilitis (called, I think, Strep Throat in the US?)

Sprained ankle

Athlete's Foot

Flu / Influenza

Chicken pox

German Measles (Rubella)

Mumps

Measles

Gastroentiritis

Dermatitis

Sciatica

High temperature (fever)

Arthritis

Gout

... the list is endless!

Lil' Ruby RoseSweet Sixteen refers, I think, to the old saying "Sweet 16 and never been kissed" (and subsequent ruder versions). It is not a milestone birthday in the UK, in the way that 18 and 21 are. I don't think you could change it to Sweet 15 to reflect your country's tradition - what would the translation be of what it's called in your language?

Quinceañera is celebrated in some Spanish-speaking cultures at the girl's 15th birthday.

Tonsilitis (called, I think, Strep Throat in the US?) Streptococcus is entirely different from tonsilitis.

"Sweet 16" is indeed a big party in the U.S. for some people. If you said "Sweet 15," I think most people would think you had made a typo. It's pretty much a fixed idiom. I know that I have heard the name of the party for the girls when they turn 15, but I have forgotten what it is. If you put the translation there, we can see if that reads naturally in English.

Thank you, Philip. My mistake - my American (Chicago and NY) friends had no idea what I meant by either Tonsilitis or Glandular Fever. They, on the other hand, described the mysterious (to me) ailments of Strep Throat and Mono, and we somehow must have wrongly diagnosed them as the same illnesses! Could you shed any light?

I speak no Spanish, unfortunately. What would an appropriate translation of Quinceanera be, out of interest?

JuanZZZHi everyone:

I'm from a Latinamerican country Well, now, don't I feel just a little bit stupid! When I first read your post, somehow my eyes sent "Lithuanian" to my brain, which was obviously not working very well in the first place (how many Lithuanian countries are there, any way?).

So I mentioned the quinceañera, with which you are very familiar. I didn't notice your name until I started to tell you about two subjects in one post, and then I finally put 2 and 2 together and got 4 instead of 5. Mea culpa.

In Spanish, quince = 15; año = year. No real word for it in English. (See my post just before this one!)

That's odd. I thought I had posted, but apparently it didn't "take hold."

If you say "Sweet 15," people in the US will assume it's a typo because "Sweet 16" is such an established concept.