First off, Poindexter, we all know how to count. Yes, technically, all decades end on the year ending in “0.” Culturally, that’s not how most people look at things. For instance, no one considers 1970 to be part of the legendary ‘60s because 70. Don’t just shut up, go away. A Mister Know-It-All who doesn’t know when to shut up doesn’t know squat worth hearing about. We’ve other matters to discuss.
I read something somewhere that noted that, for the first time since the ‘90s, we’re living in a decade with a name, namely, the ‘20s. The writer pointed out that the first two decades of the 20th century weren’t named, either. A good point, but I like to think of the last decade, at least, as the twenty-teens. What, you say it leaves out 2010 through 2012? Call them the twenty-tens and twenty-teens. It’s not nearly as clunky as what people have been calling individual years since Y2K.
A pet peeve of mine is how people still say “two-thousand something” when “twenty-something” scans so much better. I’m hoping people will get in the habit of saying the one-syllable shorter “twenty” over the cumbersome “two-thousand” as we get into the twenty-twenties, but I suspect it will take a while yet. People seem really attached to saying “two-thousand.” Saying “Y2K” (why-two-kay), as in, “Y2K-19,” spits out faster, and has some savoir faire to it, but savoir faire left us long before the original Y2K, so whaddya gonna do?
I wish history had been taught the way we’re expected to remember history in the media, namely, by decades and their fashions. It could be noted how fashions were slow to change in the absence of global electronic connectivity, but they shifted enough to account for the differences of the centuries. You could list the centuries and the top ten things they were famous for in terms of improved technology and who was whuppin’ whom, with some fine print towards the bottom for the remaining hundred. Students who could memorize these details would have a far, far better grasp of how things came to be in their world than they would listening to some nattering narcissist going on and on and on for the longest 60-90 minutes of their lives.
Comparisons with the Roaring Twenties of the 20th century are inevitable, but let’s hope it’s not taken too far. The next decade is the ‘30s and the 20th century ‘30s were not famous for being a time of prosperity and happiness. Let’s make these years our own.
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| People who argue when decades “really” begin are lucky to get a kiss from their dog when the clock strikes midnight. Of course, it’s all society’s fault and the result of a “systemic” something or other. |
I read something somewhere that noted that, for the first time since the ‘90s, we’re living in a decade with a name, namely, the ‘20s. The writer pointed out that the first two decades of the 20th century weren’t named, either. A good point, but I like to think of the last decade, at least, as the twenty-teens. What, you say it leaves out 2010 through 2012? Call them the twenty-tens and twenty-teens. It’s not nearly as clunky as what people have been calling individual years since Y2K.
A pet peeve of mine is how people still say “two-thousand something” when “twenty-something” scans so much better. I’m hoping people will get in the habit of saying the one-syllable shorter “twenty” over the cumbersome “two-thousand” as we get into the twenty-twenties, but I suspect it will take a while yet. People seem really attached to saying “two-thousand.” Saying “Y2K” (why-two-kay), as in, “Y2K-19,” spits out faster, and has some savoir faire to it, but savoir faire left us long before the original Y2K, so whaddya gonna do?
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| When does the New Year become the Same Old Year? Today? Not for me. I’ll hang onto the feeling until Epiphany. It still seems a bit soon but we’ll cope. |
I wish history had been taught the way we’re expected to remember history in the media, namely, by decades and their fashions. It could be noted how fashions were slow to change in the absence of global electronic connectivity, but they shifted enough to account for the differences of the centuries. You could list the centuries and the top ten things they were famous for in terms of improved technology and who was whuppin’ whom, with some fine print towards the bottom for the remaining hundred. Students who could memorize these details would have a far, far better grasp of how things came to be in their world than they would listening to some nattering narcissist going on and on and on for the longest 60-90 minutes of their lives.
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| By this logic, Miss New Year above will be a wizened crone in a granny gown come next December. Here’s hoping she keeps her hair. |
Comparisons with the Roaring Twenties of the 20th century are inevitable, but let’s hope it’s not taken too far. The next decade is the ‘30s and the 20th century ‘30s were not famous for being a time of prosperity and happiness. Let’s make these years our own.
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