# What should we call the current decade? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 16, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426 "2006-12-16T20:23:02Z")\ **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:** [December 16, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/1 "2006-12-16T20:23:02Z")
We had the Fifties, the Sixties, the Seventies, the Eighties, the Nineties, and now we’re living in – what? The Oughts? The Naughts? The Oughties? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/2 "2006-12-16T20:53:28Z")
It started with the Y2K hysteria, so I nominate the 2K’s. Like in, this year is 2K6. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/3 "2006-12-16T20:56:18Z")
The 2000s. We cope perfectly well talking about the ‘1900s’ and understanding, through context, whether it means the decade or the century. Same with the current decade. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/4 "2006-12-16T21:50:39Z")
Man, people were asking that question (“What do we call the first decade of the 21st Century?”) every month back in 1999 with an urgency that was frightful to behold. Somehow we’ve gone over halfway through the decade without a name, and the sun still burns, birds still fly, and the world still turns. ---
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/5 "2006-12-16T21:53:13Z")
It’s easy enough to call it the current decade. I’ll probably end up calling it the first decade of this century. I wonder if there will end up being some sort of conventional consensus on this question. ---
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/6 "2006-12-16T22:01:12Z")
The Bush years. Not my preference, but that does seem to cover it. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/7 "2006-12-16T22:01:47Z")
[QUOTE=qwest] I wonder if there will end up being some sort of conventional consensus on this question. [/QUOTE] I doubt it. They’re still busy finding a term for “steady live-in sexual partner I won’t marry anytime soon”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/8 "2006-12-16T22:02:54Z")
I’ve always been a fan of “the naughts,” but I can’t bring myself to actually use the term seriously in writing or conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/9 "2006-12-17T00:02:19Z")
Heinlein’s term “The Crazy Years” come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/10 "2006-12-17T02:40:46Z")
[QUOTE=According to Pliny] The Bush years. Not my preference, but that does seem to cover it. [/QUOTE] Perhaps the answer is to never mention this decade again. Pretend it never happened. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/11 "2006-12-17T02:42:39Z")
[QUOTE=According to Pliny] The Bush years. Not my preference, but that does seem to cover it. [/QUOTE] Fortunately the Bush years will end before the decade does so this may not be the best option. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/12 "2006-12-17T05:46:31Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] We had the Fifties, the Sixties, the Seventies, the Eighties, the Nineties, and now we’re living in – what? The Oughts? The Naughts? The Oughties? [/QUOTE] By and large, I’ve heard ‘The Oughts’ used in the media by radio and television newscasters. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/13 "2006-12-17T06:25:34Z")
[QUOTE=According to Pliny] The Bush years. Not my preference, but that does seem to cover it. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=pulykamell] I’ve always been a fan of “the naughts,” but I can’t bring myself to actually use the term seriously in writing or conversation. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Tangent] By and large, I’ve heard ‘The Oughts’ used in the media by radio and television newscasters. [/QUOTE] A no effort president, a big Zero, no need to add “The Bush years” to it, it is redundant. _Nothin’ from nothin’ leaves nothin’_ ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/14 "2006-12-17T06:53:07Z")
The Oughts - ought not to have elected Bush, ought not to have started a war in Iraq, ought to have done something about the environment, ought to forget the whole damned decade and start over. Other nominations: The Big Nadas The Decade of Zilch The Haliburton Years ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/15 "2006-12-17T06:56:43Z")
I don’t think the decade would get too mad at us if we decided to call it Maurice. (Serious note: What terms were used to identify the first decade of the twentieth century?) ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/16 "2006-12-17T09:59:01Z")
[QUOTE=Governor Quinn] (Serious note: What terms were used to identify the first decade of the twentieth century?) [/QUOTE] According to Uncle Cecil’s 1996 column, [What did people in the 1900s call the decade in which they lived?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_161.html) there was no standard identification. Just like today. So the same problem will likely arise 100 years from now, and this generation will be of no help in providing guidance. Sorry, people of the future–you are on your own! ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/17 "2006-12-17T10:24:33Z")
The “Naughties” ? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/18 "2006-12-17T13:53:38Z")
I call it “The Zeros”. Will we call the next decade (2010-2019) the Teens? [sub]Would be better than “the years when oil got really expensive” or “the years we ran out of drinking water” or “the years of rising seas”…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/19 "2006-12-17T17:18:59Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Fortunately the Bush years will end before the decade does so this may not be the best option. [/QUOTE] You never know–isn’t there talk of running Jeb in 2008? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426/20 "2006-12-17T21:14:18Z")
[QUOTE=Sophistry and Illusion] You never know–isn’t there talk of running Jeb in 2008? [/QUOTE] You! Out! Out of the thread NOW! Don’t you dare come back in with filthy language like that! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-call-the-current-decade/384426.md?page=2)