# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/41 "2004-12-28T22:08:30Z")
> [@jackbivouac](#): > > 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.” Yes! Jeez! I can’t believe I had to go 28 posts deep into this thread before finding someone sensible. 😛 “Two thousands” sounds way better than any phrase including the ridiculous terms aughts, ohs, zeros, and naughts. Say it with me people: **two thousands**. ---
**Author:** ![Grendel\_s\_Father](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grendel\_s\_Father](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grendel_s_Father)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/42 "2004-12-29T16:58:27Z")
> [@neuroman](#): > > Yes! Jeez! I can’t believe I had to go 28 posts deep into this thread before finding someone sensible. 😛 > > “Two thousands” sounds way better than any phrase including the ridiculous terms aughts, ohs, zeros, and naughts. > > Say it with me people: **two thousands**. But, isn’t that more useful for describing the entire century? The “eighteen hundreds” refers to all of the 19th century, not just the first decade, after all. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/43 "2004-12-29T21:55:08Z")
I _was_ calling it the “double-oughts,” but then I saw Cervaise’s “oh-oh’s” idea. Much cooler. ---
**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 29, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/44 "2004-12-29T22:30:28Z")
> [@Grendel's Father](#): > > But, isn’t that more useful for describing the entire century? The “eighteen hundreds” refers to all of the 19th century, not just the first decade, after all. But “nineteen-hundreds” ties roughly with “turn of the century” and (in Anglophone circles) “Edwardian” for denoting 190x. ---
**Author:** ![jackbivouac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@jackbivouac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackbivouac)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/45 "2004-12-30T11:42:43Z")
> [@Grendel's Father](#): > > But, isn’t that more useful for describing the entire century? The “eighteen hundreds” refers to all of the 19th century, not just the first decade, after all. Nevertheless, it will take a century for the “two thousands” to become ambiguous. Why worry now? ---
**Author:** ![jackbivouac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@jackbivouac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackbivouac)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/46 "2004-12-30T11:57:36Z")
Furthermore, the “twenty-first century” is already universally accepted as the name of this hundred years, and the “third millenium” for this thousand. Future DJs will almost certainly refer to the hits of the “eighties,” “nineties,” and “two thousands.” Future portrayals of the two thousands, however, may include characters dating themselves by refering to the “oughts.” The holonovel audiences will chuckle. ---
**Author:** ![jackbivouac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@jackbivouac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackbivouac)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/47 "2004-12-30T12:57:36Z")
And lastly, to polish off my insomnia, let me air a few inevitable but minor points. On December Thirty-first, Two thousand nine, we will be anticipating the year “twenty ten.” That will be the first year of the “teens.” We will then look back at the “00s” (perhaps not so fondly by liberals) pronouncing the abbreviation as the “two thousands” by way of usage. The decade of the “nineties,” (i.e. 2090-2099) will give way to the “twenty-one hundreds” - the first decade of the twenty-second century - a decade with problems of its own, no doubt, but not the one we’re having now. Nope, the future ain’t what it used to be. ---
**Author:** ![jackbivouac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@jackbivouac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackbivouac)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/48 "2004-12-30T16:04:50Z")
OK, just one more angle to harden my theory. A decade is a set of ten years. In refering to that set, we naturally look for a commonality in the ten names in that set. For instance, the set: [two thousand, two thousand one, two thousand two, …, two thousand nine] contains “two thousand” as the common words. It is thus a set of 10 “two thousands,” the same way the “nineteen nineties” are a set of 10 “nineteen ninety-'s.” The only reason we are confused now is that there is arguably no elegant, non-archaic way to shorten the “two thousands” to isolate the last two digits. After 2009, we will progress to the “twenty teens,” and the word “thousand” will not be incorporated in the pronounciation of a contemporary date for 990 years. There is only one decade, for a millennium in either direction, that contains years involving the word “thousand” - this one. These are the “two thousands.” Enjoy 'em while you still can. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jackbivouac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@jackbivouac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackbivouac)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/49 "2004-12-31T07:49:33Z")
> [@Fear the Turtle](#): > > 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 ?”. Granted, anyone who’s listened to the business report on the BBC knows the word “naught” is still in currency in the Commonwealth. However, it is one of many words we don’t typically use on this side of the pond. The British may well call the “00s” the “naughts” for a time, despite what Americans say. But the gargantuan of Yankee soft power (Hollywood in particular) will lay that to waste without the need for liberating the crap out of any more countries. Also, the use of the “naughts” may make some sense for 1900-1909, but not for 2000-2009. We are not about to toast to the year “twenty oh five” or “twenty naught five.” Not even the Brits are saying that. The term “two thousand” has all the zeroes covered. One of the problems we are having is that up until 2000 we spent our lives using the term “nineteen” to denote “the year” or “the year of.” We said “nineteen eighty-four” to clarify “eighty-four” as a year and not some other parameter. We lost that clarity on January 1, 2000. This is why many felt the need to continue using the archaic “the year two thousand.” But that is fading from usage, as is the “and” of 2001. (Thanks, Kubrik) In 5 years, the term “twenty” will come to mean “the year of,” and will remain in usage for 90 years. (Will I be banned from this board for running my trap for five straight posts without a reply?) :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/50 "2005-01-25T21:14:39Z")
> [@Fear the Turtle](#): > > I guess we’ll have to wait until 2010 and the radio stations are playing music from “the eighties, the nineties and the ?”. I don’t think the radio station’s know either. The one up here (yes, there’s just one, we’re a bit off the beaten path) advertises as “the 80’s, 90’s, and whatever.” ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/51 "2005-01-29T12:16:36Z")
I was calling it the 2Ks for quite a while. I’ve sort of given up recently. It seemed logical. Y2K \> 2Ks. Why hasn’t that caught on? ---
**Author:** ![Naughtyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b77776/32.png) [@Naughtyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naughtyman)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/52 "2005-02-02T22:47:23Z")
Correctness be damned, I like the ring of “naughties”. teens, twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, naughties. Catchy, elegant. Spread the meme now! Build enough momentum to forestall prudish objection! PS roaring twenties, dirty thirties, fabulous forties, nifty fifties, sexy sixties, heavenly seventies, fraidy eighties, whiny nineties… what follows? ---
**Author:** ![Pez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5e9695/32.png) [@Pez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pez)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/53 "2005-02-07T20:14:50Z")
> [@jackbivouac](#): > > [snip]The only reason we are confused now is that there is arguably no elegant, non-archaic way to shorten the “two thousands” to isolate the last two digits. > > After 2009, we will progress to the “twenty teens,” and the word “thousand” will not be incorporated in the pronounciation of a contemporary date for 990 years. There is only one decade, for a millennium in either direction, that contains years involving the word “thousand” - this one. > These are the “two thousands.” Enjoy 'em while you still can. 😉 We just need to go back to the decade 1000-1009 to see what they called it the last time this problem came up Maybe the twenty-naughts, but the twokays sounds okay as well. Or maybe double-o-kay? ---
**Author:** ![cbergeron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed8c4c/32.png) [@cbergeron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbergeron)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/54 "2005-02-16T06:40:38Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > '0X (oh ex) always sounded less goofy to me than most of the other suggestions. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone use any of the suggestions in this thread, apart from people talking about what to call it. Actually, in the computer realm, people will confuse the 0x connotation with the “Hex” (base 16) notation system. I’ve mostly heard this decade referred to as the 'aught’s. Does it really matter how we describe our “current” decade? Why don’t we just let history determine what our decade was/is called? Pretty much any description of our current “period” will be understood by our peers. It’s the people of the future that will have to settle on a name for “us”. Let’s not try to do their job; considering that it’s impossible. Kind regards, CB ---
**Author:** ![bleach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bleach/32/3106_2.png) [@bleach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bleach)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/55 "2005-02-16T21:56:17Z")
“Best hits of the eighties, nineties and the oh-ies!” Oh-ies! It’s fun to say and sends a positive message, unlike naughties. And 2002 could be Oh-ee-two. Oh-ies! Like a breakfast cereal. Except more like 10 years’ worth of breakfast cereals. Oooo, and the subsequent decade could be called …wait for it… The One-ies! [wins Nobel Prize for chrono-ontology] I’m off to the trademark office… ---
**Author:** ![scotch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@scotch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotch)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/56 "2005-02-18T10:54:21Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > 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. Ahem, it is decidedly NOT the “math geeks” telling us that. All “math geeks” know that zero is a number. ---
**Author:** ![Herbert\_Treefrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e57/32.png) [@Herbert\_Treefrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Herbert_Treefrog)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/57 "2005-02-18T12:12:22Z")
As a (ahem) Brit - I would refer to it as the Noughties rather than the Naughties. A matter of semantics, I know, but there you are. Alternatively we could refer to it as 'the decade where the United States of America spread peace, harmony and democracy around the world… …Or perhaps not. I’ll get my coat. ---
**Author:** ![scotch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@scotch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotch)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/58 "2005-02-18T12:15:40Z")
> [@Herbert Treefrog](#): > > Alternatively we could refer to it as 'the decade where the United States of America spread peace, harmony and democracy around the world… With considerable help from one Tony Blair. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2005, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/59 "2005-02-18T12:59:59Z")
> [@scotch](#): > > Ahem, it is decidedly NOT the “math geeks” telling us that. All “math geeks” know that zero is a number. Yes, zero is a number. So are -1, _i_, _e_, and 666. None of which are relevant to the question, “How many years in a century?” \*\*“Hey, you tryin’ to rip me off? This carton says ‘1 dozen eggs’, but there are only eleven.” “So? Zero, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven. That’s a dozen, buddy.”\*\* ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794/60 "2005-02-18T13:01:43Z")
> [@scotch](#): > > Ahem, it is decidedly NOT the “math geeks” telling us that. All “math geeks” know that zero is a number. They also ought to know there’s no year of that number. Thus year 1-1000 inclusive, first millenium, year 1001-2000 inclusive, second millenium. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decade-is-almost-half-over-what-are-we-calling-it-anyway/280794.md?page=4)