Calendar

Zさん： “So I've been wondering about Japanese calendar terms.”

Aさん： 「何？」

Zさん： “きょう means 'today', right, so one would expect きょねん to mean 'this year', but it doesn't, it means 'last year.'

Aさん： 「Well, yeah, because of the kanji。。。」

Zさん： “Furthermore, せんしゅう means 'last week', and せんげつ means 'last month', so one would expect 'last year' to be せんねん.”

Aさん： 「Are you implying that the Japanese language should be changed for the convenience of foreigners? Well, ok, how about this. きょねん can be changed to mean 'this year' and せんねん can mean last year, but in fairness, changes need to be made to English, too: the names of the months should be changed to 'MonthOne', 'MonthTwo', 'MonthThree' 。。。」

Zさん： “... um... nevermind.”