Performing their two-thousand-ten program or twenty-ten program?

[John Murray]

I would rather hear "two-thousand ten."

[HighBrass09]

two-thousand ten sounds wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better!

[Slow Adam]

Since we say "eighteen sixty five" and "nineteen thirty two", it would bake sense to say "twenty ten".

It sounds strange, though, so it'll probable be "two thousand ten".

So we skipped that convention from 2000-2009, but we should back this decade?

[Lance]

So we skipped that convention from 2000-2009, but we should back this decade?

It'll be interesting to see how 2000-2009 will be uttered a century from now.

We say "Eighteen-Oh-Nine" for 1809 nowadays, but that's not how they said it back in 1809.

[Stryfe]

The reason we have been pronouncing the years 2000 - 2009 as "two thousand [+ whatever]" is the same reason we pronounce the years 1000 - 1009 as "one thousand [+ whatever]". I'm completely for going back to "twenty ten," and I will refuse stodgily to say it any other way But looking back at all the ways we pronounce different years from 1001 "one thousand one" to 1801 "eighteen oh one" to 1900 "nineteen hundred," I don't think there's a right answer. But most of the smarter people are using "twenty ten" (see post re: technology earlier), and it just sounds cooler, so my vote's for that.

[Slow Adam]

But most of the smarter people are using "twenty ten" (see post re: technology earlier), and it just sounds cooler, so my vote's for that.

Ah, sorry for being so ignorant and uneducated, but I prefer "two thousand ten".

[HighBrass09]

Ah, sorry for being so ignorant and uneducated, but I prefer "two thousand ten".

I agree, I never hear anybody say Twenty-ten...it doesn't flow right.

Knowledge has nothing to do with this too....an idiot could say Twenty-Ten.

Edited February 26, 2010 by HighBrass09

[Appleknocker]

WOW,...one can surely tell it is the middle of winter.

3 pages of comments on 2010.

[CitBos]

WOW,...one can surely tell it is the middle of winter.

3 pages of comments on 2010.

I blame George Hopkins for it!

[BanditKir]

I was actually reading about this on wikipedia recently... Apparently it's actually a hot topic in linguistics - when people will go from saying two-thousand to twenty.

Copied from the wikipedia article on "2020"

Many experts agree that majority usage of "two thousand (and) X" is a result of influences from the Year 2000 problem hype, as well as the way "2001" was pronounced in the influential 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Experts also suggest that since former years such as 1805 and 1905 were commonly pronounced as "eighteen oh" or "nineteen oh" five, the year 2005 should naturally have been pronounced as "twenty oh-five".[1]

Many people, ranging from linguistic and academic experts to Internet bloggers, predict that the "twenty X" pronunciation method will eventually prevail, but a time frame as to when this change will occur often differs. The year 2010 is suggested by many[2][3], while 2011[1] and 2013 are popular as well. The latest time frame for change is usually placed at 2020[1] or 2100. David Crystal, author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, has predicted that the change will occur in 2011, to "twenty eleven", explaining that the way people pronounce years depends on rhythm, rather than logic. Crystal claims that the rhythm or "flow" of "two thousand (and) ten", beats out that of "twenty ten", but the flow of "twenty eleven" beats out "two thousand (and) eleven".[1] Alternatively, Ian Brookes, editor-in-chief of Chambers Dictionary, suggests the change will occur in 2013. The UK Times has suggested 2020 as a final time frame for the change, saying "If people can have “twenty-twenty” vision, then surely they should also live in the year “twenty twenty”."[1]

In addition, the Vancouver Olympics, taking place in 2010, are being officially referred to by Vancouver 2010 as "the twenty-ten Olympics", and the London Olympics, taking place in 2012, are also being officially referred to by London 2012 as "the twenty-twelve Olympics".