Remember 2000, when everyone was partying in 1999 as though it were the end of the century and millennium, even though it had another year to go? Well, I was reading the American Airlines magazine this morning, and the monthly column from the airline president said that it was his last of the decade. And of course, Newsweek says that it was a “decade from Hell” (presumably because much of it was presided over by the BusHitler), also implying that it comes to a close at the end of the month. I’m not going to go through the explanation again, but the decade doesn’t end until a year from now.
10 thoughts on “Here We Go Again”
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Rand, it’s actually Time magazine rather than Newsweek, but I’m certain Newsweek is working on their own follow-up along the same theme.
Rand,
That error has been going on for over century and its one of those things that I found is a waste of time to correct people on. Human nature is human nature and you just have to accept it at times.
At the same time I find its a good touchstone for separating the rational thinkers from the irrational thinkers.
Tom
Rand, you’re implying that the year 2000 was part of the 1990s and that, say, the year 1930 belonged to the roaring twenties.
While that may be a precise interpretation, it is far from obvious and tries to associate dates that are dissimilar on casual inspection. What seems to matter to most folks is the number on the calendar – when a higher order digit changes, it’s a big deal.
Besides, the fact that there was no year 0 AD isn’t terribly important for separating our modern decades. In most cases, we’re not trying to establish an unbroken chain of 201 decades – we’re just distinguishing between the years of the last century or so. In those cases, it’s simply easier to group similar numbers.
(Apologies for a contrary first comment – I’m a long time reader, you’ve got a great site.)
The only reasonable response is that those with the Right Answer get to party both at the Wrong Time and the Right Time.
Precision = More parties!
That’s nothing. Most folks insist on calling the 1500s the 16th “century” even though it was ten days short of 36,524 after Pope Gregory caused 4 October 1582 to be followed directly by 15 October 1582.
It may have been the decade of BusHitler; but it was also the decade when a savior came out of Chicago/Hawaii/Indonesia/Manchuria/(wherever) to redeeem us. Hail, the decade of Il Dufe!
The 10’s will be the decade of the Handbasket.
I recall that this fact had been held in reserve in case the first Apollo landing had occurred in 1970 rather than 1969.
It’s the end of a decade — the 200xs. Which is not the same as the ‘first decade of the 21st century’ (2001–10).