Future Pronunciation Argument

[korme]

Ok, I have done some thinking and don't know which one will be more accepted 5 years from now, in 2010.

Twenty-ten?

Or Two thousand and ten.

Right now, you would think the latter would be more accepted since we use that as the norm right now (Two thousand and five). But... if you look at it, take 1999 for example. No one ever said One thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine. Everyone said Nineteen ninety-nine.

So will the former be more accepted once we hit 10 years into the 21st century?

[WSUCougar]

Don't you have some algebra homework to do or something?

[vtbub]

his natural light bonds come due then, but he can't get the money unless he pronounces it correctly.

[Fonzie]

My money's on Twenty-Ten.

But then again, I don't have any money. Can I have some of your money?

[Psmith]

That's an interesting question... We say two thousand and five (actually, I say it without the "and") But we say nineteen oh five, eighteen oh five, and so on. I think the millennium hype made people feel that hitting two thousand is somehow important, so they pronounce the thousand rather than the disrespectful twenty.

[stkelly52]

I would guess two thousand ten, mostly because people will be so used to saying "two thousand" by then.

Of course I still don't know what to call this decade

[Franklinnoble]

What is the sound of one hand not giving a rat's ass?

[TredWel]

People will continue to use the phrase "Two thousand ..." up until the year 2020. Since we're familiar with the phrase 20/20, it will sound much more normal to hear "twenty twenty" than "two thousand and twenty". From that point on, we will use the "twenty..." instead of "two thousand and..."

I haven't felt this sure about anything since I don't know when.

[korme]

Originally Posted by TredWel

People will continue to use the phrase "Two thousand ..." up until the year 2020. Since we're familiar with the phrase 20/20, it will sound much more normal to hear "twenty twenty" than "two thousand and twenty". From that point on, we will use the "twenty..." instead of "two thousand and..."

I haven't felt this sure about anything since I don't know when.

If you are wrong, I am going to bump this thread in 15 years.

[Celeval]

Originally Posted by stkelly52

Of course I still don't know what to call this decade

The naught-ies.

[TargetPractice6]

I'll say 20-10. I don't see any good reason to use more syllables.

[TazFTW]

I'll probably go with twenty-ten. I'll use two thousand and ten in reference to the film.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by Psmith

That's an interesting question... We say two thousand and five (actually, I say it without the "and") But we say nineteen oh five, eighteen oh five, and so on. I think the millennium hype made people feel that hitting two thousand is somehow important, so they pronounce the thousand rather than the disrespectful twenty.

Oddly enough, my boss (who is Chinese, so English isn't her native language) actually does say "twenty-oh-five" or even odder "two thousand-oh-five".

To the thread topic, I suspect it'll be a split for a while, with the "two-thousand-ten" being sort of a formal way of saying it, and "twenty-ten" being informal, which is likely how it'll be used in the majority of conversations. For instance, I think of Halley's Comet's next arrival in 2061 as "Two thousand sixty-one", but also in "Twenty-sixty-one".

This should all clear itself up and we can go back to 20th century styles of speaking by 2100, which everyone will call "twenty-one-hundred", not "two thousand-one-hundred".

[Neon_Chaos]

i'm going with twenty-ten. the two-thousand is too long for conventional use.

By 2010, it's going to be twenty-ten, and every year after that it's going to be twentie.

People are going to need to start worrying when it goes to about 2077. Two-thousand seventy-seven? That's a mouthful.

Right now, I call 2005 as twenty-o-five.