# 19\_\_ is gone, so why not 20\_\_?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/19__-is-gone-so-why-not-20__/233443
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 10, 2004, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/19__-is-gone-so-why-not-20__/233443 "2004-03-10T06:30:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2004, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/19__-is-gone-so-why-not-20__/233443/1 "2004-03-10T06:30:59Z")
Most checks, forms, etc. used to have **19\_\_** to speed up filling out the year. We’ve now been into the new century for over 3 years and I have yet to see **20\_\_** printed on any checks, forms or anything else. I know that lots of printed items became obsolete because they contained the **19\_\_** , but surely with 96 years left that shouldn’t be a concern.
Does anyone know why this hasn’t been done or at least some idea?
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2004, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/19__-is-gone-so-why-not-20__/233443/2 "2004-03-10T06:32:48Z")
Well, they want to get the jump on that Y2.1K problem. 😃
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### Author:  [@Doc\_Nickel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doc_Nickel)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2004, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/19__-is-gone-so-why-not-20__/233443/3 "2004-03-10T07:23:17Z")
On a related note, I got a small packet of papers that were my grandfathers’, stuck haphazardly in a 1945 copy of _Machinery’s Handbook_. One of them was a reciept, dated 1947, for a set of draftsman’s tools from his local supplier.
The interesting part is the date had _three_ digits prefilled: **194\_**
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### Author:  [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2004, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/19__-is-gone-so-why-not-20__/233443/4 "2004-03-10T07:32:10Z")
I get my checks from Checks Unlimited and they have 20\_\_ on them. And I got them in late 2002 or early 2003. (I am not sure how long it has been, I don’t write many checks anymore.)
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### Author:  [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2004, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/19__-is-gone-so-why-not-20__/233443/5 "2004-03-10T07:55:44Z")
For that matter, why do we persist with writing “04”, instead of simply “4”? Computer systems aside, few people use two digits to denote which month we are in (unless it’s October, November or December)–or two digits to describe which day of the month it is, unless we’re past the 9th.
10/3/04 (or 3/10/04 for you Americans) seems to be a hangover from the 20th century. Free yourself from the extraneous zero, people! 😃
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### Author:  [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2004, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/19__-is-gone-so-why-not-20__/233443/6 "2004-03-10T11:49:22Z")
Using two digits for the year is a lot clearer than using just one, IMO.
10/3/4 (or 3/10/4) is just plain confusing, to my eye - it doesn’t even really look like a date, mainly because we have been conditioned to seeing two digits.
I tend always to use 10/3/2004, which is a lot clearer, or, if for international use, 10-Mar-2004. But then, in an ideal world, we’d write 2004-03-10 😉
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### Author:  [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2004, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/19__-is-gone-so-why-not-20__/233443/7 "2004-03-10T13:24:28Z")
Not much to add, except that my checks do have the \*\* 20\_\_ \*\* pre-printed on them, and have for at least a couple of years.
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### Author:  [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/19__-is-gone-so-why-not-20__/233443/8 "2004-03-10T14:55:36Z")
Just wanted to add that my personal checks as well have the 20\_\_ on them.
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### Author:  [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2004, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/19__-is-gone-so-why-not-20__/233443/9 "2004-03-11T02:27:12Z")
> [@](#):
>
> For that matter, why do we persist with writing “04”, instead of simply “4”?
Like r\_k said, only about one in every fourth generation or so gets to really remember an ‘oughties’ decade, and then only for, well, a decade! So 9 times out of 10 years have two significant digits.
If humans lived longer we’d undoubtedly always use 3 or 4 digits!
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### Author:  [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/19__-is-gone-so-why-not-20__/233443/10 "2004-03-11T02:54:55Z")
> [@cmkeller](#):
>
> Just wanted to add that my personal checks as well have the 20\_\_ on them.
Mine still have an address from three addresses ago!
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### Author:  [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/19__-is-gone-so-why-not-20__/233443/11 "2004-03-11T03:42:48Z")
I’m still on a batch of cheques that I got in 1999, and they have \_\_\_ on them - no 19\_\_, no 20\_\_. I would imagine, though, that the next batch I get will have 20\_\_.
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### Author:  [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2004, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/19__-is-gone-so-why-not-20__/233443/12 "2004-03-11T07:06:52Z")
> [@r\_k](#):
>
> But then, in an ideal world, we’d write 2004-03-10 😉
No need to wait for Utopia - if you feel that strongly about it just move to Hungary (or any other country where that particular date format is used.)
😉
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### Author:  [@fezpp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fezpp)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2004, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/19__-is-gone-so-why-not-20__/233443/13 "2004-03-11T15:38:03Z")
> [@Jervoise](#):
>
> For that matter, why do we persist with writing "04
You mentioned computer systems, where a leading zero (or zeroes) is essential for sorting of data.
In computer based or hand-written systems a leading 0 is useful for validation. Using 04 prevents the confusion between 4 and 4X where X could be a deleted character (through water damage, or a ripped piece of paper etc.)