# Why two thousand and fourteen? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 5, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862 "2014-08-05T13:33:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![georgie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@georgie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/georgie)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/1 "2014-08-05T13:33:34Z")
Why do so many people still say “two thousand and fourteen” so far into the new century, when it is so much easier to say “twenty fourteen”? After all, people didn’t say “0ne thousand nine hundred and fourteen” a century ago, they said “nineteen fourteen”. I know many people have a hang up with the movie “2001”, insisting on saying “two thousand and one”, but get over it, that was along time ago! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/2 "2014-08-05T13:42:50Z")
Reported for forum change. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/3 "2014-08-05T13:50:48Z")
“One Thousand, Nine Hundred and…” is just too much of a mouthful to keep saying, so you can hardly compare it to the much snappier “Two Thousand and”, with “and” almost imperceptibale. I use them interchangably and probably will for the rest of my life. The next year that can only really be said one way is “twenty-one oh one” ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/4 "2014-08-05T14:53:05Z")
Not to fight the hypothetical too strongly, but I think I’ve only heard people say “Two thousand fourteen,” not “two thousand _and_ fourteen.” I figure in a few decades, us old folks will be leaving off the “two thousand” part and just saying “you kids don’t remember what it was like, back in '14…” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/5 "2014-08-05T14:55:05Z")
Because “two thousand and thirteen” was already taken. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/6 "2014-08-05T15:06:04Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Because “two thousand and thirteen” was already taken. That’s so last year. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/7 "2014-08-05T15:16:29Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > The next year that can only really be said one way is “twenty-one oh one” I plan to call it “Two thousand, one hundred and one”. Only kidding. I’ll be dead. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/8 "2014-08-05T15:20:01Z")
If it helps, _I_ say twenty - whatever. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/9 "2014-08-05T15:32:02Z")
Because we had “The year TWO THOUSAND, MAN” fourteen years ago and we kept with the theme. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/10 "2014-08-05T15:35:37Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I plan to call it “Two thousand, one hundred and one”. > > Only kidding. I’ll be dead. I din’t realize you were ailing. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/11 "2014-08-05T15:35:44Z")
I stick with the “two thousand” form. I like the way it sounds. Harder? Easier? “Two thousand” doesn’t take any more significant effort, time or energy than “twenty.” Did you come with a lifetime’s limitation on syllables? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/12 "2014-08-05T21:08:14Z")
Moving to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/13 "2014-08-05T21:12:06Z")
> [@georgie](#): > > Why do so many people still say “two thousand and fourteen” so far into the new century, when it is so much easier to say “twenty fourteen”? After all, people didn’t say “0ne thousand nine hundred and fourteen” a century ago, they said “nineteen fourteen”. > I know many people have a hang up with the movie “2001”, insisting on saying “two thousand and one”, but get over it, that was along time ago! So, what to call the movie “2001”? Twenty oh one? ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/14 "2014-08-05T21:23:07Z")
Personally, I much prefer “Two Thousand Fourteen”, to “Twenty Fourteen”, it just sounds odd to me. I’m okay with and would use “Nineteen Fourteen” and “Twenty One Fourteen”, but the alternative would be “Nineteen Hundred Fourteen” or “Twenty One Hundred Fourteen”; I’ve never heard anyone say “One Thousand Nine Hundred Fourteen” other than in an extremely formal circumstance like a wedding invitation, so I disregard that. As such, when it comes to the year 2014, the reason I dislike “Twenty Fourteen” is that, using the same construction above, it seems to be short for “Twenty Hundred Fourteen”, which is just dumb. No one says “Twenty Hundred” they say “Two Thousand”. And unlike the 1914 alternative constructions, it’s only a one syllable difference between “Two Thousand Fourteen” and “Twenty Fourteen”. So I expect I’ll keep saying it this way, though I wouldn’t be shocked if the “Twenty Something” construction eventually wins out. Oh, and I don’t use the “and”, I hate it. I hear it sometimes, particularly when people use any number that has hundred in it, but it makes a number more ambiguous, since I’d only use the and to add a decimal or fraction. I occasionally hear “Two Thousand and Fourteen” but the “Two Thousand Fourteen” construction seems much more common. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/15 "2014-08-05T21:34:53Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > Oh, and I don’t use the “and”, I hate it. I hear it sometimes, particularly when people use any number that has hundred in it, but it makes a number more ambiguous, since I’d only use the and to add a decimal … There is no possible way you can be confused by this. In American usage, “two thousand fourteen” and “two thousand and fourteen” always, unambiguously mean exactly the same thing. No one ever uses “two thousand and fourteen” to mean 2,000.14. Ever. 2,000.14 is “two thousand and fourteen hundredths” or “two thousand point one four” or “two thousand point fourteen.” ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/16 "2014-08-05T21:40:11Z")
I say “two zero one four” so I sound like an IVR system for a bank. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/17 "2014-08-05T21:58:04Z")
I used “two thousand (no and)…” up until 2010. Then I switched to “twenty ten”, “twenty eleven”, and so on. I’m not sure why, but it suits me, and I don’t care what other people say. I only bring it up because it seems a lot of other people took the same path as me. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/18 "2014-08-05T22:07:43Z")
I say two thousand and fourteen, but when speaking of six years in the future I say twenty twenty. I can’t tell you why I prefer to say “Two Thousand and…” for the teen years but “Twenty X-ty Y” for the rest of the following decades. I just do; it sounds right. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/19 "2014-08-05T22:09:32Z")
I like using 1,407,276,485 … but in polite company I say “twenty fourteen” or just “fourteen”. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862/20 "2014-08-05T22:10:18Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > There is no possible way you can be confused by this. > > In American usage, “two thousand fourteen” and “two thousand and fourteen” always, unambiguously mean exactly the same thing. > > No one ever uses “two thousand and fourteen” to mean 2,000.14. Ever. 2,000.14 is “two thousand and fourteen hundredths” or “two thousand point one four” or “two thousand point fourteen.” I’ve heard that argument before, but like you I don’t believe anyone says “and” instead of “point.” At least not in English, anyway, I’m not sure about other languages. No one who ever interpret the “and” to mean “point” so anyone who actually did use it that way would need to explain it 100% of the time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-thousand-and-fourteen/694862.md?page=2)