Is this a Dumb Question to Ask?
So we had the 90's. The decade before that was the 80's. And the 70's. And the 60's. And the 50's. And the 40's. And the 30's. And the 20's.
What do you call this decade? Are we in the 0's?
Then what will we call the next decade? The teens? That won't start till the year 2013. 10's?
posted by David Cho @ 10/22/2004
6 comments
6 Comments:
I think everyone judiciously avoids having to call this decade anything. In this millenium, the moment you find yourself in a syntax situation that requires the use of the XX's terminology, you're doomed to an awkward clause. Those with foresight can reword their sentences ahead of time, but some have become tangled in this particulalrly vicious word trap and must rather ungracefully extricate themselves. If you have any solutions in mind, I'm all ears. But for now I think I'll tip-toe around the issue.
:)
Then how about the next decade? 10's? That does not sound right either.
So we have to wait til the year 2020 to go back to using XX' terminology?
One hundred years ago they were called 'The Oughts', as in "The Spanish American War ended about ought-two", but maybe that's a little too quaint for people's tastes, though it's grammatically correct.
I was going to say the same thing, that it used to be called "the oughts". That's too old-fashioned now, I think.
Most people are calling this decade the "ohs", and the next decade will be called "the teens".
I like your baseball-derived expression, "step up to the plate".
Finally some answers!!
So this decades will be the 0's. The next decade being the teens doesn't really make sense because technically the years 10, 11, and 12 aren't teens.
The next decade being the teens doesn't really make sense because technically the years 10, 11, and 12 aren't teens.
True. The alternative is "the tens". So you can put in an extra E, or not.
Now get back to your paperwork.
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