"Two thousand..." or "Twenty..."?

[farmkid]

Until the year 2000, people divided the year into two double-digit numbers when saying the year. For example,

1999 was "nineteen ninety-nine"
1908 was "nineteen-oh-eight"
1900 was "nineteen hundred"

However, now people don't do that. For example, 2008 is "two thousand eight", not "twenty-oh-eight". When people refer to years in the future, I hear people say "two thousand fifteen" for 2015, or "two thousand thirty" for 2030.

I think this is because "twenty-hundred" just didn't sound right, so people said "two thousand", and it has stuck ever since. That makes sense for for 2000, but not so much for later years.

So, does this bug you? Do you cringe a little when people say "two thousand twelve" when talking about the next US Presidential election? Or do you do it too?

Will we ever go back to the way it was before? It certainly seems awkward to keep saying "thousand" when the year is 21-something, but by then we may have 100 years of saying it and no one will be left who ever did anything different. If we don't change soon, will it be too engrained in the language to change?

 

[cultcross]

In fact, once we get past 2010, I've mostly heard people say 'twenty', as in 'twenty-twelve', 'twenty-fifteen', 'twenty-sixty' etc. It's only been the 'noughties' where people have avoided saying 'twenty-oh-five' because it's cumbersome compared to 'two thousand five'.
Plus I think people still rather enjoy the novelty

 

[Eric Cheung]

Charles Osgood says twenty-oh-eight. But language is supposed to evolve. It's likely that people will eventually start using "twenty" eventually. It'll either be at the beginning of the next decade, the 2020s, or the 2100s. But if not, then maybe there will be an even more efficient way to say it than is said now.

 

[TheBrew]

I use "thousand" when referring to years in this decade, and "20" from 2010 on up. I think that it is just one of those things that happens at the beginning of each millennia. Which sounds better to you: "one thousand and one" or "ten-one"?

 

[captcalhoun]

i prefer Two thousand and eight or two thousand and forty-seven. i but i do admit to using 'twenty-twelve' for the Olympics or the Twenty-twenties on occassion.

 

[Rÿcher]

no no no.

It's two thousand eight or when we get to 2010, "twenty ten" or "two thousand ten"

we didn't say "nineteen ninety and eight".

and we still don't have space tourism! frick!

 

[FordSVT]

I actually heard a guy say "ought six" the other day when referring to 2006. That I'd stepped into a time machine to the early 20th century for a minute.

I find myself saying two thousand seven and twenty eighteen.

 

[Rÿcher]

I actually heard a guy say "ought six" the other day when referring to 2006. That I'd stepped into a time machine to the early 20th century for a minute.

extremely common especially among hunters. 30.06 is a very popular caliber.

 

[captcalhoun]

no no no.

It's two thousand eight or when we get to 2010, "twenty ten" or "two thousand ten"

we didn't say "nineteen ninety and eight".

and we still don't have space tourism! frick!

yeah, well I'm English and we say two thousand and eight like we say half AN hour. not 'a half hour'.

we speak the language correctly.

 

[Rÿcher]

I say half an hour too.

 

[cultcross]

no no no.

It's two thousand eight or when we get to 2010, "twenty ten" or "two thousand ten"

we didn't say "nineteen ninety and eight".

But to correct your analogy, you would say one thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight. If you're reading the number in that manner it needs an 'and', even if speed of spoken language usually slurs it out.

 

[Cicero]

^ I , too.

 

[Smiley]

Except for years ending in zero, I predict that we will say just the last two digits of the year starting in 2021.

 

[Captain Intrepid]

The way it is is this. Two thousand eight, two thousand nine, twenty ten, twenty eleven, twenty twelve, etc.

 

[Eric Cheung]

According to Wikipedia here we'll start going to "twenty" in 2010. Of course I've read articles elsewhere saying there are several theories as to when we'll start with the "twenty." I could have sworn that article was Wikipedia itself. For now, I can't find it.

It should be noted that Wikipedia describes some years as spelled out with an "and." This is mathematically incorrect as "and" denotes an upcoming fraction in a mixed number.

 

[Alaedhros]

no no no.

It's two thousand eight or when we get to 2010, "twenty ten" or "two thousand ten"

we didn't say "nineteen ninety and eight".

But to correct your analogy, you would say one thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight. If you're reading the number in that manner it needs an 'and', even if speed of spoken language usually slurs it out.

Actually, that's incorrect. As Eric noted:

This is mathematically incorrect as "and" denotes an upcoming fraction in a mixed number.

So, please, "two thousand eight" or "twenty-oh-eight", don't put an "and". (For the record, I use the latter. Except for the years divisible by 100, breaking years up into two numbers works great--why stop?)

 

[Elmo Dukat]

In fact, once we get past 2010, I've mostly heard people say 'twenty', as in 'twenty-twelve', 'twenty-fifteen', 'twenty-sixty' etc. It's only been the 'noughties' where people have avoided saying 'twenty-oh-five' because it's cumbersome compared to 'two thousand five'.
Plus I think people still rather enjoy the novelty

I think it's awkward for people to deal with double zeroes. "Twenty oh," "Twenty aught," etc sounds awkward. I think once we get over the double zero hump, we'll go back to "Twenty..."

 

[Captain Intrepid]

It should be noted that Wikipedia describes some years as spelled out with an "and." This is mathematically incorrect as "and" denotes an upcoming fraction in a mixed number.

Two thousand and eight is perfectly correct. And in any case, eight is really just 8/1.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

two thousand and eight would be 2000.8 (which is a computer dating system, so it could be August 2000).

 

[cultcross]

two thousand and eight would be 2000.8 (which is a computer dating system, so it could be August 2000).

What a bizarre way of looking at it. I've never heard a decimal described by 'and'. That number is two thousand point eight. Otherwise, you're opening endless fields of confusion.
I don't know enough about higher-level maths to know if its mathematically sound or not, but certainly for daily use, you can't tell me if someone hears 'two thousand and eight' they'd think 2000.8. They'd think 2008. It's certainly the standard way of pronouncing the latter here, its not uncommon to hear the sort of people who care about stuff like this moan about the American habit of leaving out words
When discussing years we may well leave out the 'and' as its slurred to almost nothing, but for describing the quantity 2008 we'd certainly put it in.