Jan 22 2010
Twenty Ten
So for the first ten years of the 21st century we’ve referred to the year as “two thousand x”, breaking the pattern of the old millenium where the year was broken into two pairs of digits. This made sense for a couple reasons. First of all, many were enamored with living in a new millennium and saying “two thousand” every time one referred to the current year emphasized that fact. Secondly, the old system works just as well as adding in the additional “oh” if you wanted to say “twenty oh nine”. Although by the end of the decade there were plenty of people referring to years as “oh eight”, “oh nine”, etc. and there will be a number of people referring to this year as “oh ten” despite it sounding a bit odd to me. (Twenty one, Twenty five, etc. are right out of course due to confusion. 
Now that the third millennium is over ten years old, however, I think it’s time to stop referencing the thousand bit. Twenty ten is easier to say, and sounds a lot snappier. How would you read the address 2010 Fake Street? I’d imagine most would read it as twenty ten. It’ll take a little while to break the decade old habit, but I hope that phrasing catches on. Who’s with me?