I’ve been stewing about something since last weekend’s tenth anniversary of September 11. I told Earl, and he said I was probably the only person on the planet who thought this mattered. I was undeterred.
In fact, I wrote a letter to Time magazine expressing my concerns. Here it is, since it summarizes the problem.
Dear Time Magazine,
I’m confused and hope you can help. I’ve read your recent tribute to September 11, cover to cover, and am curious about the juxtaposition of the Arabic number nine and the Roman numerals for eleven, those being II.
The point is that the Roman numerals for eleven are XI, and II represents two. So what am I missing when I interpret your headline as September 2?
My husband says I’m the only one in the world who will quibble, but doesn’t this monumental event deserve grammatical accuracy? For those who abhor Arabs, the Roman numeral date is IX/XI. Or if we go with the numbers more commonly used in this country, wouldn’t it be 9/11. Please tell me where I’m wrong.
If anybody out there sees my point, please email me at anne@annebrandt.com. Otherwise, I guess Earl is right.
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