# The New Millenium **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 19, 1999, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809 "1999-08-19T10:02:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Robb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Robb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robb)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 1999, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/21 "1999-08-20T00:29:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Not an invitation for every " Smug, Know-it-all" to excerise his “Vast knowlege of the Inner Workings of EVERYTHING”… But, it would have looked better for you if you spelled it millennium. That second n seems to be the other Y2K problem. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 1999, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/22 "1999-08-20T00:33:00Z")
I think people are going to say they were born in the year two thousand instead of the year zero zero. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 1999, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/23 "1999-08-20T00:46:00Z")
Eddie, the answer is that you aren’t going to call those years anything at all. Haven’t you been reading the other threads? There will _be_ no “after Dec. 31, 1999.” And if there is, we’re all going to be way too busy scrounging for electricity, sweeping up asteroid dust, saying “Hi” to God, and all that other stuff to have time to call it anything! * * * Livin’ on Tums, Vitamin E and Rogaine ---
**Author:** ![lvick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d07c76/32.png) [@lvick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lvick)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 1999, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/24 "1999-08-20T01:17:00Z")
I favor the aughts, and I have the habit of breaking numbers into smaller groups, it facilitates my memory, so I’ll probably say twenty aught zero, twenty aught one, twenty aught two. I can hear myself now, “Heh, heh, why you sniveling pup, I kin 'member back in the winter of 20 aught 1 we would’ve loved to had moldy bread to chew on.” Larry ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Berry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@Carl\_Berry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Berry)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 1999, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/25 "1999-08-20T01:35:00Z")
I heard of the 1890’s called “The Gay Ninetys” (no, not that gay), the 1920’s called the “The Roaring Twenties” The 1950’s, “The Faboulus Fifties”, but what are the 1900’s, 1910’s, 30’s '40’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s & 1990’s called? Will the 1990’s be “the gay 90’s?” (yes, that guy) ?? * * * Zymurgist ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Berry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@Carl\_Berry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Berry)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 1999, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/26 "1999-08-20T01:36:00Z")
I heard of the 1890’s called “The Gay Ninetys” (no, not that gay), the 1920’s called the “The Roaring Twenties” The 1950’s, “The Faboulus Fifties”, but what are the 1900’s, 1910’s, 30’s '40’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s & 1990’s called? Will the 1990’s be “the gay 90’s?” (yes, that gay) ?? * * * Zymurgist ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Berry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@Carl\_Berry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Berry)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 1999, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/27 "1999-08-20T01:38:00Z")
Sorry about that! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 1999, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/28 "1999-08-23T15:53:00Z")
General usage: 1890s–The Gay [or Naughty] 90s c1900-14–La Belle Epoch, or The Edwardian Age 1920s–The Roaring 20s 1930s–The Depression Years 1940s–The War Years 1950s–The Eisenhower Years 1960s–The Swinging 60s 1970s–The “Me” Generation, or Watergate Years 1980s–The Reagan Years ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 1999, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/29 "1999-08-23T19:15:00Z")
Fill in the blank: The Seventies, The Eighties, The Nineties, The \_\_\_\_\_\_, The Teens, The Twenties. 1. The 2Ks (Two-Kays) 2. The Two Thousands 3. The Oughts 4. The Oughties 5. The Noughts 6. The Noughties 7. The Nils 8. The Nillies 9. The Decade of the (Third) Millennium 10. The Mils 11. The Turn of the (21st) Century 12. The Turn of the (Third) Millennium 13. The Zeroes 14. The Os (Ohs) 15. The Zips I prefer #1. History will probably refer back to this as #12 or #11. Peace. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 1999, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/30 "1999-08-23T23:48:00Z")
I’m going for “The Big Zero”. ---
**Author:** ![bantmof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@bantmof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bantmof)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 1999, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/31 "1999-08-24T09:09:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I think people are going to say they were born in the year two thousand But it’s hard to get that falsetto right. (I wonder how many people read that and are going, “huh??”) – peas on earth ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 1999, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/32 "1999-08-24T09:17:00Z")
I suspect people will just say “two thousand” for the first year (i.e. yeah, that was back in two thousand). After that, I suspect they’ll just say “oh one”, “oh two”, or 'two thousand and two", depending on the type of reference. i.e. “I went to university from 1998 until two thousand and two”, or “I went to university from oh two until oh six”. I don’t think you’ll hear a lot of ‘ought’ because, even though that was used back for the turn of the century it’s kind of an anachronism now. Just my guess. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 1999, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/33 "1999-08-25T04:36:00Z")
Argh! People! Listen up. You still don’t get it. The original question was, What are you going to call the **decade** of 2000-2009. Not, “how are you going to say the individual years?” -m ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 1999, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/34 "1999-08-25T04:38:00Z")
Oops. Ignore that rant. Wrong bulletin board. Sorry. -m ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 1999, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/35 "1999-08-25T04:48:00Z")
Bantmof, I think the more important question is, “What the hell is Conan gonna do in four months?!” ---
**Author:** ![bantmof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@bantmof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bantmof)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 1999, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/36 "1999-08-25T06:28:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Bantmof, I think the more important question is, “What the hell is Conan gonna do in four months?!” I wonder too. But Andy is leaving (I’m not sure when), so maybe they’ll just stop the skit when he goes. Or maybe they’ll keep going as normal even after 2000 🙂 – peas on earth ---
**Author:** ![bantmof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@bantmof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bantmof)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 1999, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/37 "1999-08-25T06:32:00Z")
Ok, I fully admit right up front that this sounds appalling :-), but: 1980’s -\> “eighties” 1990’s -\> “nineties” 2000’s -\> “hundreds” 2010’s -\> “teens” 2020’s -\> “twenties” etc I will guess that the _specific_ years will be called “two thousand”, and then “oh one”, “oh two”, etc, at least in the 'states. Yeah, I don’t like it either. – peas on earth ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Iron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Big\_Iron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Iron)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 1999, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/38 "1999-08-25T06:47:00Z")
I vote for the Naughty Aughties. ---
**Author:** ![Wayback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e56c9b/32.png) [@Wayback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wayback)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2020, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/39 "2020-09-27T06:04:11Z")
Holy shit, this is an old thread, about 21 years really! I wonder how old you all are now. Hello from the future. ---
**Author:** ![Wayback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e56c9b/32.png) [@Wayback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wayback)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2020, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809/40 "2020-09-27T06:06:29Z")
You posted this 21 years ago! If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you now? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-millenium/2809.md?page=3)