# Poll about the early '00s **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 24, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149 "2004-03-24T16:33:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/1 "2004-03-24T16:33:14Z")
My question is, how did you pronounce — '00s — in your head when you read the title? Me, I said “ohs” (like the plural of “oh”). ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/2 "2004-03-24T16:44:22Z")
My first thought upon reading the title was “the zeroes”, which is what I have pretty much settled on. ---
**Author:** ![legion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@legion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legion)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/3 "2004-03-24T17:02:24Z")
Oughts. There was a similar thread last year [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=211025). ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/4 "2004-03-24T17:08:12Z")
Reading the title, “Ohs” came to mind first. Then I thought “zeros” make more sense. Then I thought, the decade a century ago I think of as the nineteen hundreds. So this decade should be the twenty hundreds, or “hundreds” for short. Then I thought, only 6 more years until we’re rid of this un-namable decade. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/5 "2004-03-24T17:15:02Z")
Yeah, there’ve been other threads. I was hoping to make this one different by just using '00 in passing and then asking people how they heard it. In other words, what was the spontaneous reaction without thinking it through? ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/6 "2004-03-24T17:25:06Z")
I actually don’t hear anything. I read it as “Poll about the early (blank)s”, the s being almost silent itself. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/7 "2004-03-24T17:55:32Z")
Well, I initially didn’t guess what the thread was about, and I thought to myself, “Poll about the early nineteen-hundreds.” Then I considered that it might be “about the early two-thousands.” 'K? ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/8 "2004-03-24T18:28:03Z")
> [@legion](#): > > Oughts. Me too. “Double oughts”, actually. (I also write my 7’s with a little hash mark) ---
**Author:** ![the\_Lady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@the\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_Lady)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/9 "2004-03-24T20:14:36Z")
I’m with **Jayn**. I don’t hear anything. That is very odd. ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/10 "2004-03-24T21:03:03Z")
I hear, “The oh-ohs”; or more accurately, “The uh-ohs.” [aside] **Libertarian** , check your private messages at Fathom. Or email me at joneemak AT hotmail DOT com. I’d like to barter a book of poetry or something with you. [/aside] ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/11 "2004-03-24T21:22:04Z")
Ohs, I guess. When having to discuss the decade, I say the new millinneum. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/12 "2004-03-24T21:49:44Z")
I automatically translated it to (and heard) 2000s. ---
**Author:** ![Diet\_dis-Pepsi-a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ab097/32.png) [@Diet\_dis-Pepsi-a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diet_dis-Pepsi-a)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/13 "2004-03-24T22:02:34Z")
> [@legion](#): > > Oughts. I prefer “ought” because it is best for both an individual year, “ought two,” and the decade, “the oughts.” Most people look at me strangely when I say it though. Mostly I hear: “since the turn of the century” or individual years like “zero one” or “oh three.” ---
**Author:** ![Diet\_dis-Pepsi-a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ab097/32.png) [@Diet\_dis-Pepsi-a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diet_dis-Pepsi-a)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/14 "2004-03-24T22:04:56Z")
Also hear 2K. Like 2K1 or the 2K’s. This for some reason irritates me. ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/15 "2004-03-24T22:15:28Z")
If it’s something like a used car, I say it’s an “oh one.” Or the contract runs through “oh seven.” If it’s a situation where I would use the two thousand in front of a number, I say two thousand four. NOT two thousand AND four. I’ve heard both are correct, but I don’t like the and part. I wonder how long it will take until we stop saying two thousand, and just say the contract runs through twenty ten. Maybe when we get out of the zeros. ---
**Author:** ![jastu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jastu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jastu)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/16 "2004-03-25T01:25:34Z")
When I saw the '00s, I immediately thought noughties. That is the term I’ve generally heard for '00. ---
**Author:** ![Dusty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@Dusty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusty)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/17 "2004-03-25T02:19:59Z")
Without thinking about it, “poll about the early nineteen-hundreds” came to mine first, then “…about the early two-thousands”. I call current year “dickety-ought-four”, though. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/18 "2004-03-25T02:48:02Z")
How strange. I know there were discussions about this earlier but until this thread it didn’t dawn on me that I haven’t really _heard_ the decade called anything. A weird aural and mental gap, that. I sort of vaguely thought of it as the “oh-hundreds”, probably harkening back to the beginning of the last century: nineteen-oh-whatever. Oughts don’t fit snugly into my admittedly messy mental grooves, nor do 2K versions. I hope some consensus is reached because this could get very awkward after a while. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/19 "2004-03-25T07:23:02Z")
I generally think of it as “2000s”, “oh-ohs” or nothing. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149/20 "2004-03-25T18:42:48Z")
Oh’s for me. I think of the individual years (except 2000 itself) as “twenty-oh-X”, so the decade as “ohs” is the natural extension of that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-about-the-early-00s/236149.md?page=2)