# How do you say 2010 (the year)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 14, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189 "2009-01-14T02:48:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/21 "2009-01-14T06:49:06Z")
I say it Twenty-Ten, just as we did for Nineteen-Ten. The argument that “It will never be Twenty-Hundred” makes sense, except that, counting from 1910, it was never going to be “Nineteen Hundred” either. It just switched from “Nineteen Ninety-Nine” to “Two Thousand.” I predict the same thing will happen after Twenty-Ninety-Nine. It’ll just switch to “Three Thousand” Also, re: Referencing 2010: The Year We Made Contact. This would only serve as a steadfast example if the year 2010 was the followup to the year 2001, rather than there being eight intermediary years. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/22 "2009-01-14T07:16:34Z")
> [@Art\_Rock](#): > > I think the comparison with 19xx falls flat. Say Ninety ninety nine stands for ninety nine (hundred) and ninety nine. As it will never be twenty hundred, twenty ten does not make sense to me. Seeing that English probably won’t even exist as we know it in 9099 or 9999, I don’t really see how your comment is relevant. It’s going to be twenty ten, and I’m pretty confident that history will bear me out. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/23 "2009-01-14T07:40:58Z")
“Two hundred and one, oh.” Followed by “Two hundred and one, one”, “Two hundred and one, two”, etc. Just kidding, I say “twenty ten”. ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/24 "2009-01-14T07:56:13Z")
I just say 10 or 11 in my case. My reasoning is… Unless you been living under a rock for a millenia or are a time traveler the Prefix of 20 will be 20 for the next 90 years. If I happen to be alive in the year 2100…I’d venture to just say 100. “Sir when were you born?” “66” “Is that 1966?” “No, 1766…” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/25 "2009-01-14T08:04:42Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > Seeing that English probably won’t even exist as we know it in 9099 or 9999, I don’t really see how your comment is relevant. It’s going to be twenty ten, and I’m pretty confident that history will bear me out. That should of course have been nineteen ninety nine etc, not ninety… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/26 "2009-01-14T08:52:45Z")
I’ve been saying twenty-ten. Odd, we had this question come up at work the other day… Most agreed on twenty-ten. ---
**Author:** ![AllWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@AllWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllWalker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/27 "2009-01-14T09:09:48Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > This year: Two Thousand Nine > Next Year: Twenty Ten This. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/28 "2009-01-14T11:57:01Z")
Twenty-ten, but that’s when we’re hosting the World Cup, and twenty ten is how it’s pronounced in all the advertising media… Grim ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/29 "2009-01-14T12:43:12Z")
11111011010 or 2 (for short), but then I am old school. I just realized that there are 10 kinds of people that will read that. Those that get it & those that don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/30 "2009-01-14T12:50:55Z")
Usually two-thousand-ten. If I was in America I’d probably say twenty-ten. It’s the same as with giving the time: ten-thirty in American, half-past-ten or half-ten in Scottish (can’t say about English ;)). When an agent calls me asking whether I’m available and has problems understanding “I’m not available until two-thousand-ten,” I repeat it as “yes, two-thousand-ten, twenty-ten, whichever way you prefer but next year. And that’s at the earliest.” They seem to get it after a couple repetitions. I’ve noticed that agents with different accents will say it differently but I don’t make a point of asking agents “excuse me, where are you from? It’s for an informal language study I’m doing.” ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/31 "2009-01-14T12:58:51Z")
Two-Kay-ten… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/32 "2009-01-14T18:10:24Z")
> [@gardentraveler](#): > > Twenty-ten - we’ve been doing long-range planning (through about 2012) at work and everyone I’ve talked to says it this way. Us, too. Plus it just flows better. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/33 "2009-01-14T18:29:32Z")
This year: Twenty-aught-nine Next year: Twenty-ten. > [@Art Rock](#): > > I think the comparison with 19xx falls flat. Say Ninety ninety nine stands for ninety nine (hundred) and ninety nine. As it will never be twenty hundred, twenty ten does not make sense to me. So how would you say the year 1066? One-thousand-Sixty-six, or Ten-Sixty-six? Me, I’d say Ten-sixty-six. Same reasoning applies for twenty-ten. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/34 "2009-01-14T18:41:31Z")
tuh-WUN-oh. Nah, just kiddin’. Two thousand and ten. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/35 "2009-01-14T18:48:10Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > So how would you say the year 1066? One-thousand-Sixty-six, or Ten-Sixty-six? Me, I’d say Ten-sixty-six. Same reasoning applies for twenty-ten. One thousand sixty six. Ten sixty six just sounds odd to me. Then again, English is my second language. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/36 "2009-01-14T19:12:40Z")
Because of the run-up to the Vancouver winter olympics, everyone around here has been conditioned to say “twenty ten”. ---
**Author:** ![beanpod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9adbd/32.png) [@beanpod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beanpod)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/37 "2009-01-14T19:31:44Z")
Two thousand nine. Twenty-ten. Saying two thousand eight and two thousand nine just sounds better to me than twenty-oh-nine. Maybe something to do with the two zeros. It also seems kind of odd that someone would say they don’t understand what you’re talking about when you say twenty-ten. I don’t remember something like 1066 being pronounced anything other than “ten-sixty-six” in history class in school. That sounds normal. One thousand sixty-six is just a number to me. Ten sixty six is a year. Ok, or an amount of money. I bet eventually most people will switch to twenty-whatever for convenience. It’s faster to say. Will people be saying “two thousand” for the entire century? I doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/38 "2009-01-14T19:55:17Z")
> [@fighting\_ignorant](#): > > One of the dumbest people I ever worked with referred to it as “twenty oh ten”. Uhhh, no, dude. In a few recordings we’ve transcribed, I’ve seen some folks say 2008 as “two oh eight”. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/39 "2009-01-14T22:58:38Z")
As usual, I am the odd one - I’ve been saying 08 and 09 all along. At least I am not alone in that I’ve also been saying twenty ten. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189/40 "2009-01-14T23:30:01Z")
I’ve been saying ‘two thousand and nine’ (although more often just ‘oh-nine’) but for some reason I can’t make myself say ‘two thousand and ten.’ I just automatically say ‘twenty-ten.’ To me saying ‘two thousand and ten’ is like saying ‘nineteen hundred and ninety eight,’ even though I cheerfully say ‘two thousand and nine.’ Make of this what you will. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-2010-the-year/481189.md?page=3)