Throughout my life, I’ve always heard people refer to the early 21st century years as “two thousand and X”. For example, they pronounced 2001 as “two thousand and one”. In my experience, during the mid-2010s there seemed to be a shift in the way people said it, and the first time I heard someone say it differently was in 2016, where they pronounced it as “twenty sixteen”.
Most people I’ve heard pronounced the late-2010s years as “two thousand and X”, although the pronunciation “twenty X” had started to catch on fast. By the year 2020, almost nobody used the “two thousand and X” pronunciation, except for very old people I knew. For example, most people would pronounce 2024 as “twenty twenty-four” and not “two thousand and twenty-four”.
My question is: what year is the cutoff date for pronouncing the early 21st century years as “two thousand and X?” I’ve always heard people say it that way prior to 2016, I’ve never heard someone pronounce, say, 2007 as “twenty oh seven”.
I hope I was able to properly articulate what I’m trying to say.
Man…I’m just sooooo SO pissed off at language. In the 90s, I loved calling the current decade “the 90s”. Then 2000 came, and people were like “It’s the aughts!” to which I said “NO! FUCK YOU! I HATE IT, AND YOU SHOULD BURN IN A POOL OF NAPALM FOR EVEN SUGGESTING THAT!!!”
That being said 2000-2010 and 2010-2020 don’t have a cool term for either of their respective decade names. So for 20 years I’ve been saying “OH MAN!!! I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL 2020 WHEN WE CAN END THIS MADNESS, AND CALL IT THE 20s AGAIN!!!”
Imagine my disappointment. Waiting 20 years for the year 2020 to arrive, excited to see what 2020 would bring. And then…2020 happened. Now, if you forget what happened that year, that would be a result of the covid affecting your brain, and also your psyche trying to mentally block out images of horror. It’s something that brains do when faced with intense psychological horror. Which is exactly how I would describe 2020. Imagine waiting 20 years, and THAT’S what you get.
Fuck
Earth.
The noughties, the teenies, and the twenties.
burns that pile of tinder you call a home go the ground