# The decade is almost half over. What are we calling it anyway? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 20, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794 "2004-12-20T14:24:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/21 "2004-12-22T22:36:45Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > We can get a clue what the decade’s nickname is by looking at how high school and college students refer to their graduating year. Those who graduated in 1996, for example, might have called themselves the “Class of '96” (pronounced Ninety-Six) and the decade was called the Nineties. So what do students today call their class? Total F@#$ing Train-Wreck. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/22 "2004-12-23T11:01:32Z")
I’ve heard “the millennium” which is factually inaccurate but when has that ever stopped anybody? But I prefer “the twenty first century” because that’s what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/23 "2004-12-23T11:14:18Z")
Unfortunately, “21st century” doesn’t describe a decade. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/24 "2004-12-23T13:44:26Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Unfortunately, “21st century” doesn’t describe a decade. True. But then, we haven’t had a decade of it yet. I figure I’ll go with some other name when that becomes more pressing. ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/25 "2004-12-23T23:49:12Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I’ve heard “the millennium” which is factually inaccurate but when has that ever stopped anybody? Just wanted to say that I’m guilty of using this term. As you said, its not technically correct, but it seems to fit the job pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/26 "2004-12-24T00:07:04Z")
I wonder why there’s no date on that column? ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/27 "2004-12-24T06:00:58Z")
I call it “this decade” but I’m not too sure how long that’ll work. I refer to the year I graduated as “aught one” or “oh one.” I started saying “aught” just to sound old-fashioned, but the usefulness of it is growing on me. I can’t refer to the decade as the “aughties” though. That just sounds too silly. ---
**Author:** ![jackbivouac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@jackbivouac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackbivouac)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/28 "2004-12-24T06:42:23Z")
The pattern for at least the last century has been this: put the fist year of the decade in the plural. This is the “two thousands.” ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/29 "2004-12-27T16:03:06Z")
I’ve been partial to “The Naughts” ever since the mid-60’s when Jethro Bodine declared he was gonna become “a double naught spy”. Plus we have some quaint British gentlemen working with us here who refer to a 0 (zero) as a naught (never heard them use this as related to the decade, however). I guess we’ll have to wait until 2010 and the radio stations are playing music from “the eighties, the nineties and the ?”. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/30 "2004-12-27T18:02:58Z")
I’ve been calling it the “oughts”, depending on the listener of course. Some people would never get it. ---
**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:** [December 27, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/31 "2004-12-27T18:09:57Z")
Norman. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/32 "2004-12-27T23:55:30Z")
I suppose someone should take up the wearisome burden of reminding us that we are only at the end of the **fourth** year of this millennium, century and decade. I would favor the “oughts”, myself. ---
**Author:** ![freakstasy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@freakstasy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freakstasy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/33 "2004-12-28T00:19:27Z")
Are we going to get around to calling the years “twenty-,” as in “twenty-oh-four” for 2004 or “twenty-10” for 2010? After all, we don’t say that the Battle of Hastings took place in “one thousand sixty six.” ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/34 "2004-12-28T07:10:19Z")
> [@Happy Scrappy Hero Pup](#): > > “dickety.” Oh, I likey. [Grandpa Simpson] We couldn’t use the term last century, because of the Kaiser [/Grandpa Simpson] ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/35 "2004-12-28T08:21:41Z")
> [@freakstasy](#): > > Are we going to get around to calling the years “twenty-,” as in “twenty-oh-four” for 2004 or “twenty-10” for 2010? > > After all, we don’t say that the Battle of Hastings took place in “one thousand sixty six.” I think we’ll find out when the majority (or the media) decides. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/36 "2004-12-28T14:34:41Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > I suppose someone should take up the wearisome burden of reminding us that we are only at the end of the **fourth** year of this millennium, century and decade. > > I would favor the “oughts”, myself. 2000,2001,2002,2003,2004…I count **five** years in the decade of 2000-2009 ---
**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:** [December 28, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/37 "2004-12-28T14:55:05Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > 2000,2001,2002,2003,2004…I count **five** years in the decade of 2000-2009 Apparently you missed all the hoppla as the math geeks the world over whipped themselves into a frenzy reminding us that the year 2000 ended the 20th centure; it didn’t begin the 21st. 2001 was the first year of the 21st century. Remember this. It’ll be important someday. Don’t know when, but someday. They keep telling us that, so it must be true. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/38 "2004-12-28T14:59:53Z")
I believe that the years starting with 20xx started with 2000. Now I’d admit that I’m no math genius but it seems obvious to me. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/39 "2004-12-28T18:21:34Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I believe that the years starting with 20xx started with 2000. Now I’d admit that I’m no math genius but it seems obvious to me. True enough. We are nearing the end of the fourth year of the 21[sup]st[/sup] century, but the fifth year of the “20xx” century, the fourth year of the 201[sup]st[/sup] decade, but the fifth year of the “200x” decade. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/40 "2004-12-28T18:49:57Z")
Right now: “The Decade” After it’s over: “_That_ Decade” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794.md?page=3)