So I've asked this on Facebook with no responses, I thought I'd try here and see if I get a reply. It's a questions that's been
perplexing me since January 1, 2011. Actually I've thought about this off and on for at least 30 years. I probably started thinking about this
question when I first realized that I would probably live to see a new millennium...that I would see a new century roll into existence. What is this
vexing question?
WHAT DO WE CALL THIS YEAR:
two-thousand-eleven OR twenty-eleven? I also wondered what we would call the 2000 decade. I mean 1960-69 was called the sixties etc. But what did they call 1900-1909? That question hasn't been answered yet at all. We're in 2011 but I haven't heard any news retrospectives on the past decade so I don't know what we're supposed to call it. And I'm really
flummoxed about how to
SAY the current year. . . is it said
TWENTY-ELEVEN or TWO-THOUSAND-ELEVEN? I've heard it both ways on the news. I've mostly heard it two-thousand-eleven from the average citizen (people I'm around). I did a little Internet research with most of the "experts" saying it should be twenty-eleven. The rationale is two-fold: we didn't say one-thousand ninety-nine in 1999 and twenty-eleven has less syllables than two-thousand-eleven. Yes, I agree with those points but two-thousand-eleven is only one syllable longer. So what is it? Which is correct? I know in the huge scheme of things, it doesn't matter but I'd really like a
consensus on this.
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