by law = 'inevitably; naturally'

[Joel S. Berson]

At 12/16/2012 07:50 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>The father of one of the children killed in Connecticut tells CNN that his
>children "were born within three years of one another, so by law they were
>very close."

I apologize for making light comments about something said in the
emotions of an almost unimaginable tragedy.

Perhaps he meant "by natural law" -- the one that (sometimes) keeps a
woman infertile while she is nursing her child.  Thus "within three
years" is "very close".

Especially since he was referring to *three* girls (3, 4, and 6), so
the separation is between 25 and 47 months, depending on exact birthdates.

Or perhaps he meant the law of "Go forth and multiply".

Joel

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