# What are we going to call the coming decade? The "Twentyteens"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178 "2010-11-10T15:09:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/1 "2010-11-10T15:09:53Z")
Has this been decided yet? For that matter, did we ever decide what to call the decade now ending? The “Naughtys”, or what? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/2 "2010-11-10T15:14:30Z")
I prefer to call the current decade the Oughts. As for the next - well, I’m hoping history will call it the Last Decade of the Pre-Imperial Era. Ending, of course, with the rise to power of **Emperor Mr. Excellent I**. Failing that, probably the teens. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/3 "2010-11-10T15:58:14Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > I prefer to call the current decade the Oughts. As for the next - well, I’m hoping history will call it the Last Decade of the Pre-Imperial Era. Ending, of course, with the rise to power of **Emperor Mr. Excellent I**. > > Failing that, probably the teens. Current decade? So 1990 was part of the Eighties now? Now, I’m educated enough to understand that the \*21st century \*started in 2001, not 2000, but decade names aren’t tied to centuries like that. The “Noughties”, or whatever you want to call them, ran from 2000 to 2009 ('00 to '09, hence the name). The first year of that decade was in a different century to the other nine, but so what? I’m going with Teens too. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/4 "2010-11-10T16:32:54Z")
We’re going to have to get used to the idea that 2000-2009 won’t have a consistent decade name. We always thought we’d come up with one, but we failed. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/5 "2010-11-10T17:13:46Z")
People will be clumsy about it, I’m sure. My money’s on something like, “the early 2000s” for the first decade of the 21st century and “the twenty-ten decade” for the second. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/6 "2010-11-10T17:57:08Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > I prefer to call the current decade the Oughts. \*\* Unless you’re going for a double meaning or joke, it should be the **aughts**. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/7 "2010-11-10T18:00:01Z")
Well, it ought to be. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/8 "2010-11-10T18:00:05Z")
The Roaring Tennies… or the Smelly Tennies, whatever the case may be. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/9 "2010-11-10T18:24:55Z")
I’ve heard the 1910s used to refer to the years 1910 - 1919, and that seems to be a relatively recent usage. So for this decade I think the 2010s is the most likely candidate. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/10 "2010-11-10T18:46:02Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > We’re going to have to get used to the idea that 2000-2009 won’t have a consistent decade name. We always thought we’d come up with one, but we failed. ☹ Our descendants will be so rightly ashamed of use. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/11 "2010-11-10T19:03:56Z")
2000-2009: The Zeros 2010-2019: The Tens 2020-2029: The Twenties ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/12 "2010-11-10T19:11:25Z")
Considering the recessions it’s appropriate the 00’s are …Well zeros. We need a name to reflect that 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/13 "2010-11-10T19:21:54Z")
I say the teens. Who decides this, anyway? Time magazine? The Internets? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/14 "2010-11-10T19:59:17Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > I say the teens. Who decides this, anyway? Time magazine? The Internets? The National Bureau of Standards has an Office of Decade Nomenclature. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/15 "2010-11-10T20:09:14Z")
“Twenteens” rolls off the tongue better than “Twentyteens.” I have to ask, though: when did this turn into a big deal? It feels like people have been asking what the current decade was going to be called for about 12 years, and Cecil dealt with it in _1975_. Does anyone really care about this? ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/16 "2010-11-10T20:33:50Z")
Meh, naming a decade is sooo… “Nineties…”. ---
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/17 "2010-11-10T20:48:20Z")
I’m just looking forward to the 2020s, so you can hear people say “Get with it man, it’s the 20s!” and I’ll just imagine us all wearing flapper dresses and making unwise investments with easy credit. ETA: Oh, and death rays. My God, how could I forget about death rays. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/18 "2010-11-10T21:17:26Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Considering the recessions it’s appropriate the 00’s are …Well zeros. We need a name to reflect that 🙂 I quite liked “The Uh-Ohs”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/19 "2010-11-10T21:45:10Z")
On a related note, how do you say “1810s?” Eighteen tens? Eighteen teens? Twenty teens / twenty tens seems to make sense for 2010s. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178/20 "2010-11-10T22:48:03Z")
> [@SpartanDC](#): > > I’m just looking forward to the 2020s, so you can hear people say “Get with it man, it’s the 20s!” and I’ll just imagine us all wearing flapper dresses and making unwise investments with easy credit. > > ETA: Oh, and death rays. My God, how could I forget about death rays. In Soviet Russia, death ray forgets **you!** I’m a little punchy this afternoon . . . [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-going-to-call-the-coming-decade-the-twentyteens/560178.md?page=2)