Why does the media, society and everyone else say “two thousand four” instead of “twenty O four”? Seems that if I see anything history related on T.V. that has to do with the 20th century before the teens, it was “nineteen 0 eight” for example. Does anyone think this will change? Why don’t we go with the flow?
I think the problem is the double-zero. Having the two vowel sounds (-y and oh) next to each other is difficult to say. I am confident we will begin calling the century “twenty” when we get to 2010.
I still think twenty-O-four is easier to say than two-thousand-and-four (give or take the and).
I never say the “and,” but that’s just me. (We were taught in school not to put “and” in numbers, but it seems to me this practice is highly variable by region.)
Same amount of syllables even without the and, but not quite the same. This just irritates me when everyone proceeds to pronounce the thousand part.
How do ya figure?
“Two thousand and four” is five syllables, “two thousand four” is four. Which is the same amount as “twenty-oh-four.”