# Verbal Shorthand for September 11, 2001 **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 11, 2011, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505 "2011-05-11T12:14:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/1 "2011-05-11T12:14:23Z")
How do you refer to the events of September 11, 2001? Poll to follow ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/2 "2011-05-11T12:15:52Z")
As for me, I always say “September eleventh.” The other options grate on the ears. “Nine eleven” is a Porsche model, and “Nine one one” is an emergency code. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/3 "2011-05-11T12:59:47Z")
In English, Nine Eleven. In Hebrew, \*Hapigua Bateomim \*(“the Twin Towers Terrorist Attack”). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/4 "2011-05-11T13:32:08Z")
Who says “nine one one”? That’s like saying “One Zero One Dalmatians.” ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/5 "2011-05-11T13:38:57Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Who says “nine one one”? That’s like saying “One Zero One Dalmatians.” I heard my dad refer to it as “nine-one-one.” I agree it sounds really dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/6 "2011-05-11T14:27:41Z")
September 11th. I’ve been complaining about the use of 9/11 for about nine years now. I don’t think there needs to be a catchy name for mass murder and it just grates on my ears. “Ground zero” bothers me, too. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/7 "2011-05-11T15:01:53Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > September 11th… I don’t think there needs to be a catchy name for mass murder I agree with Marley and HeyHomie. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/8 "2011-05-11T15:19:21Z")
For many years I resisted using the phase “Nine Eleven” as it it seemed to trivialize it somehow to me so I would say “September Eleventh” but eventually as time went on, I found myself using it too. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/9 "2011-05-11T15:46:37Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > September 11th. I’ve been complaining about the use of 9/11 for about nine years now. I don’t think there needs to be a catchy name for mass murder and it just grates on my ears. “Ground zero” bothers me, too. Yes, I’ve always thought the name “Ground Zero” was stupid. _prescriptivist rant warning_ “Ground Zero” is the point on the Earth’s surface closest to an nuclear detonation. I assume some news reporter throught that it was a good choice of words to keep with the standard theme of media sensationalism. The problem is that it stuck. ---
**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:** [May 11, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/10 "2011-05-11T16:42:00Z")
Nine Eleven, which seems to be the term used in the NYC area, one of the three where the attacks occured. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/11 "2011-05-11T16:55:01Z")
It varies: sometimes nine eleven, and sometimes September 11th. Funny how we all agree that the year isn’t worth mentioning. I wonder if that will ever change? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/12 "2011-05-11T17:11:13Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Funny how we all agree that the year isn’t worth mentioning. I wonder if that will ever change? It hasn’t for December 7. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/13 "2011-05-11T17:16:15Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > It hasn’t for December 7. That’s remembered as “Pearl Harbor,” not “December 7.” At least in the U.S. If you say something about December 7th and it’s understood to be in reference to the war, you might not have to say the words “Pearl Harbor,” but it’s generally not referred to as just a date. Even FDR used the year in his speech the next day. > [@Hermitian](#): > > I assume some news reporter throught that it was a good choice of words to keep with the standard theme of media sensationalism. The problem is that it stuck. The comparison was to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and there’s a certain amount of obviousness to the comparison - so I wouldn’t be so quick to blame a reporter - but I always felt that was kind of ridiculous on its face since the atomic bombings killed something like 50 times more people. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/14 "2011-05-11T17:27:44Z")
No, I’ve always heard references to “December 7” in the US. Not exclusively, I’ve heard “Pearl Harbor” too, but December 7’s out there. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/15 "2011-05-11T17:29:44Z")
For common parlance, “nine eleven,” sometimes with faintly sardonic tones. “The ninth of November” to be a real smartass for a more worldly audience. > [@panache45](#): > > Who says “nine one one”? That’s like saying “One Zero One Dalmatians.” I heard President GWB say that on at least one occasion. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/16 "2011-05-11T18:35:11Z")
It’s nine-eleven. That’s what it’s called on the news. That’s why it’s spelled 9/11. September [the] 11[th] is a date. Nine-one-one is only used when people want to connect it with the phone number, due to the (probably mistaken) belief that the date was picked for that significance. As for analogies with “Pearl Harbor”, I haven’t heard it called “World Trade Centers”, but I have heard it called “the World Trade Centers bombing”, despite the fact that I believe there were previous ones. I think that, if the new building is not called the WTC, the word will eventually refer to the attack, and 9/11 to the date. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/17 "2011-05-11T19:10:23Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > I heard President GWB say that on at least one occasion. Well, there you go. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/18 "2011-05-11T19:13:03Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > It’s nine-eleven. That’s what it’s called on the news. And I think it is disrespectful. But then I think “Grandma” rather than “Grandmother” is disrespectful. That’s why they make so many flavors of ice cream. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/19 "2011-05-11T22:07:03Z")
Nine eleven. It does sound trivial, and it’s the wrong date order for me, though other dates are never referred to by their numbers so it doesn’t sound too wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505/20 "2011-05-11T22:24:06Z")
None of the above. I say “eleventh of September”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-shorthand-for-september-11-2001/581505.md?page=2)