Today is the twenty-seventh of May twenty-oh-nine, andToday is the twenty-seventh of May twenty-oh-nine, and the time here is currently seven twenty one hours Pacific Daylight Time. The current temperature is 48 degrees Fahrenheit...make that 8.889 degrees Celsius for you metric folks, and it is another glorious warm, bright sunny summer (almost) day here in Seattle.
2010
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Is it better to say 8.889 degrees C or just 9 degrees C? C is not as accurate as F. Now it's up to 12.2222222 degrees C (54 degrees F).
In 2030 here's how people call those decades:
2000-2009: the two thousands (2000s do not refer to 2000-2099. For that we simply call the twenty-first century. This eliminates confusion.)
2010-2019: the twenty-tens. Just like we don't call the 1910s the "tens", we don't call the 2010s the "tens".
2020-2029: the twenty-twenties. The "twenties" may still refer to the 1920s, which we finally call the nineteen-twenties.
2000-2009: the two thousands (2000s do not refer to 2000-2099. For that we simply call the twenty-first century. This eliminates confusion.)
2010-2019: the twenty-tens. Just like we don't call the 1910s the "tens", we don't call the 2010s the "tens".
2020-2029: the twenty-twenties. The "twenties" may still refer to the 1920s, which we finally call the nineteen-twenties.
What's worse than not knowing what to call the year is not knowing what to call the decade which it completes as well as the one which starts in 2011. For any given century we talk about the "twenties" to the "nineties" but what are the years nn00 to nn19 supposed to be called?
I have heard people say "the two thousands" but what irks me about that phrase is that "the two thousands" comprises the years 2000 to 2099 and could also be interpreted to include the years 2000 to 2999 as well.
I have heard people say "the two thousands" but what irks me about that phrase is that "the two thousands" comprises the years 2000 to 2099 and could also be interpreted to include the years 2000 to 2999 as well.
So I was wondering about something. In the 1920s for instance, the 80s referred to the 1880s, the 90s the 1890s, etc. When did it finally become obligatory to specify the century? Did it happen at 1950? Or before or after. In 2030 what will the "twenties" be? The 2020s, or the 1920s? Will the "fourties" be the 1940s or the 2040s?
<<In 2030 what will the "twenties" be? The 2020s, or the 1920s? Will the "fourties" be the 1940s or the 2040s>>
It will sound pretty odd to me when we're in the 2030s, and people refer back to the 20s, meaning "2020s".
It will sound pretty odd to me when we're in the 2030s, and people refer back to the 20s, meaning "2020s".
<<So I was wondering about something. In the 1920s for instance, the 80s referred to the 1880s, the 90s the 1890s, etc. When did it finally become obligatory to specify the century? Did it happen at 1950? Or before or after. In 2030 what will the "twenties" be? The 2020s, or the 1920s? Will the "fourties" be the 1940s or the 2040s? >>
Omitting the "nineteen" implies a certain familiarity with the given decade. Presumably, by 2030 most people who have a familiarity with the 1920s will be dead.
Omitting the "nineteen" implies a certain familiarity with the given decade. Presumably, by 2030 most people who have a familiarity with the 1920s will be dead.
I don't think so. I refer to the '20s as the '20s, not the 1920s, and the only decades I can remember are the '90s and the '00s.
<<I don't think so. I refer to the '20s as the '20s, not the 1920s, and the only decades I can remember are the '90s and the '00s. >>
Yes, you don't necessarily have to have lived through it personally, but it's still somewhat familiar. You still probably know the basic history of what happened during the 1920s and such. The further back you go though, the less familiar it becomes (for the average person). Do you know as much about the 1820s as the 1920s? As much about the 1850s as the 1950s? Probably not unless you are a history buff or something. People will assume you're talking about the most relevant decade, which will almost always be the most recent. However, in history lectures the most relevant sometimes isn't the most recent, I've heard lecturers say things like "by the 1650s the blahblah party had lost a lot of the influence that it had during the (16)30s, but in the 60s it underwent a revival", just to save breath.
Yes, you don't necessarily have to have lived through it personally, but it's still somewhat familiar. You still probably know the basic history of what happened during the 1920s and such. The further back you go though, the less familiar it becomes (for the average person). Do you know as much about the 1820s as the 1920s? As much about the 1850s as the 1950s? Probably not unless you are a history buff or something. People will assume you're talking about the most relevant decade, which will almost always be the most recent. However, in history lectures the most relevant sometimes isn't the most recent, I've heard lecturers say things like "by the 1650s the blahblah party had lost a lot of the influence that it had during the (16)30s, but in the 60s it underwent a revival", just to save breath.
<<Yes, you don't necessarily have to have lived through it personally, but it's still somewhat familiar.>>
Yes, which is why it will sound odd to me when I'm in the 2030s and people are referring back to the '20s, meaning the 2020s.
Yes, which is why it will sound odd to me when I'm in the 2030s and people are referring back to the '20s, meaning the 2020s.
<<
Yes, which is why it will sound odd to me when I'm in the 2030s and people are referring back to the '20s, meaning the 2020s. >>
But by then the 2020s will be more familiar to you than the 1920s.
Yes, which is why it will sound odd to me when I'm in the 2030s and people are referring back to the '20s, meaning the 2020s. >>
But by then the 2020s will be more familiar to you than the 1920s.
Not so much, I suspect, considering that many of us will have lived umpty-odd years with people saying "'20s" and meaning the 1920s, whereas in 2030 they'll only have been saying it for maybe ten years.
It's also not really accurate to compare the '20s to the '90s: the 1890s were never a part of the popular imagination the way the Roaring Twenties were, so the 1990s didn't really have much competition for the label "the '90s." (In fact I don't think I've ever heard anyone refer to the 1890s that way.)
(Also, nitpick: Fahrenheit may be more [i]precise[/i] than Celsius, but cannot reasonably be called more [i]accurate[/i].)
It's also not really accurate to compare the '20s to the '90s: the 1890s were never a part of the popular imagination the way the Roaring Twenties were, so the 1990s didn't really have much competition for the label "the '90s." (In fact I don't think I've ever heard anyone refer to the 1890s that way.)
(Also, nitpick: Fahrenheit may be more [i]precise[/i] than Celsius, but cannot reasonably be called more [i]accurate[/i].)
<<Not so much, I suspect, considering that many of us will have lived umpty-odd years with people saying "'20s" and meaning the 1920s, whereas in 2030 they'll only have been saying it for maybe ten years. >>
Ok then, maybe the old people will be referring to the 1920s but everyone else won't be. As it happens, the old people rotting away in their rest homes don't have much say in the way things work or the way language evolves. Their voices will be crushed by the hordes of younger people in their productive years for whom the 2020s are more relevant. I mean, surely there are some 100-year-olds out there now who refer to the 1890s as the 90s. But no one cares about them!
Ok then, maybe the old people will be referring to the 1920s but everyone else won't be. As it happens, the old people rotting away in their rest homes don't have much say in the way things work or the way language evolves. Their voices will be crushed by the hordes of younger people in their productive years for whom the 2020s are more relevant. I mean, surely there are some 100-year-olds out there now who refer to the 1890s as the 90s. But no one cares about them!
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