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Can we all agree that there never was a year zero?
I know ... I know ... no one really gives a hippopotamus poop, unless you happen to be an anal retentive, literal thinking math geek like me. C'mon! I know I've got to have at least one reader who can empathize with my struggle to let the truth be known!
I am tired of magazines, newspapers, television shows and *cough*BLOGS*cough* compiling their "Best of the Decade" lists, because ... the decade isn't over!!
That's right people, just admit it, there was no year zero. Now, I won't be one of those crazy Republicans who claims you're a Jesus hater if you consider 2010 to be the dawn of a new decade, but I will call you wrong. The first decade was a TEN year span from 1-10. The first century? A one-hundred year span from 1-100. And yes, that means the first millennium was years 1-1000. So why are you all insisting the decade ends when the new year's last number is "0"?
You don't seem to have any problem referring to midnight as 12:00 AM, and noon as 12:00 PM, although one would think that 12PM would follow 11PM, and 12 AM would follow 11 AM, but you refuse to admit that the decade doesn't start until next year?
So why the insistence that the new decade starts this year? I can only think of two possible reasons: (1) you don't know any better (but my readers are so smart this can't be the case); or (2) you are a bunch of lemmings who jumped off the decade cliff (again, just not possible if you are one of my readers). It's just not logical! Stop the madness!!
Look, I'll call it "twenty-ten" instead of "two-thousand-ten" if you'll just agree that the new decade doesn't start until NEXT year! Deal?
*EDIT* Thanks to one of my equally geeky readers, [HERE] is further proof that I am justified in my decade arrogance!
Can we all agree that there never was a year zero?I know ... I know ... no one really gives a hippopotamus poop, unless you happen to be an anal retentive, literal thinking math geek like me. C'mon! I know I've got to have at least one reader who can empathize with my struggle to let the truth be known!
I am tired of magazines, newspapers, television shows and *cough*BLOGS*cough* compiling their "Best of the Decade" lists, because ... the decade isn't over!!
That's right people, just admit it, there was no year zero. Now, I won't be one of those crazy Republicans who claims you're a Jesus hater if you consider 2010 to be the dawn of a new decade, but I will call you wrong. The first decade was a TEN year span from 1-10. The first century? A one-hundred year span from 1-100. And yes, that means the first millennium was years 1-1000. So why are you all insisting the decade ends when the new year's last number is "0"?
You don't seem to have any problem referring to midnight as 12:00 AM, and noon as 12:00 PM, although one would think that 12PM would follow 11PM, and 12 AM would follow 11 AM, but you refuse to admit that the decade doesn't start until next year?
So why the insistence that the new decade starts this year? I can only think of two possible reasons: (1) you don't know any better (but my readers are so smart this can't be the case); or (2) you are a bunch of lemmings who jumped off the decade cliff (again, just not possible if you are one of my readers). It's just not logical! Stop the madness!!
Look, I'll call it "twenty-ten" instead of "two-thousand-ten" if you'll just agree that the new decade doesn't start until NEXT year! Deal?
*EDIT* Thanks to one of my equally geeky readers, [HERE] is further proof that I am justified in my decade arrogance!
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28 comments:
Thank GOODNESS you're out there! I've probably driven my family nuts every time I've yelled at some pinhead on TV who smugly announces that the decade is over. Explain it to people this way: suppose you have 9 cents. You need one more penny to make a dime. Extend that to years. Suppose you have 9 years. You need another one to make it a decade. I know we're probably being cranky spoilsports, but I'm with you.
By the way, I've stubbornly decided to quit starting each year with "Two Thousand" and will go with the syllabically (probably NOT a real word) economical "Twenty." As in "TWENTY" Ten.
Enjoy the last year of the decade!
This is a good point. I hadn't really thought about it from this angle. So, I guess I am one of those lemmings you spoke of.....
....sorry Dana.
It's all marketing. Who wants to celebrate a decade that starts on 2011? We Americans and others like clean and even. 2010 is put out there as the new decade because it's clean. It has has a zero on the end.
How can one market that has a one on the end? A one on the end implies that it has been used already.
It's kind of the same things as celebrating anniversaries.
Anniversaries are always, for some reason, made more important when it's the 40th, 45th, 50th and so on. For some reason we like zeroes and fives. Cheers Dana!!
...2010?!?! Where's my flying car?...
Al Penwasser, Yippee!! One reader who doesn't think I've lost my mind! I've been Pfffttt-ed more times than I can count when I pipe in with my logic!
Joker_SATX, oh no! And here I thought you were a leader ... or were you the one leading them off the decade cliff?
Matt-Man, look, those marketers have mane Valentine's Day the most dreaded day of the year, they need to leave my nice, neat decades alone!
Phfrankie Bondo, the Jetson's stole it and they are returning it until the NEW DECADE!!!
I disagree completely. But my reasoning takes too long to enter by phone, so you'll have to just accept it. :-)
Hmmm. I hadn't really thought about it. I just go with the flow. Now, my OCD self will just go and obsess about this. Thanks! ;-)
Wait...Isn't X the answer? your illustration says it is...
I had a millennium party on December 31, 2001
You know I love you, Dana, right? But I couldn't give a corn muffin less if we are doing it wrong. LOL. This is the first I have heard about it and I do see your logic. You are right. But fresh starts just start when the number flips. Not when logic tells us the time is right.
From Dictionary.com:
dec⋅ade
/ˈdɛkeɪd; Brit. also dəˈkeɪd/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [dek-eyd; Brit. also duh-keyd] Show IPA
Use decade in a Sentence
See web results for decade
See images of decade
–noun
1. a period of ten years: the three decades from 1776 to 1806.
2. a period of ten years beginning with a year whose last digit is zero: the decade of the 1980s.
3. a group, set, or series of ten.
It's all arbitrary. Just like time and the clock, the calendar was just created so we could keep track of things.
Any 10 year period is a decade. Since I was born in 1968, I call 1969 "Year One." Just like they did for year one starting the Jan 1 after the Baby Jesus was allegedly born on Dec 25th.
So for me, the decades begin on the 8s. 2008 was the REAL beginning of the new decade!!! ;-)
I am going to do what I do every time I disagree with someone but really don't want to expend the energy to argue.
Okay, Dana, okay.
LOL
Happy New Year and Happy New Decade, er not new decade!
Bond, wait! Is gray the new blonde? *giggle*
Karen, noooo! Say it isn't so! Logic is the ruler of the world ... or not!
Jay, I like this argument because it's LOGICAL!! So, my issue shouldn't be with 2010 randomly being selected as the start of a new decade, but that we don't celebrate the other nine years that are also the starts of new decades! Yep! I like it!
Kim, I'm not worth your energy? Ouch! That left a mark! *wink*
There is No year zero because the Romans got it wrong!
The first decade only had 9 years (the first century only 99) and yes I see your point however I will always give my example. By your way of thinking I graduated from high school in the 1980s in 1990. The problem isn't with this decade, it was with the first one.
(I was also taught in college that Jesus was actually born in 4 BC and that constantine or somebody messed up that calendar too, SO I don't feel bad about it.)
Now, I won't be one of those crazy Republicans who claims you're a Jesus hater if you consider 2010 to be the dawn of a new decade
Good... my day is better now, cause I still love Jesus!
In 2010 I plan to avoid being anal..:) If I spent my day correcting people's grammar alone, I would never get to bed!
Can't we celebrate twice? I'm too easy.
I agree with what Karen and RLL said.
Doc, oh! You are so silly! The first decade could NOT have had 9 years or it wouldn't be a decade! Quite frankly, I think this is a conspiracy brought on by men. You see, if we start counting at 0 then 6" becomes 7"!
buffalodick, not me! It's an even numbered year which means I get to be EVEN more anal!
Real Live Lesbian, or, using Jay's argument (I really liked Jay's argument), we can celebrate new decades every year, and then no one year will feel left out!
Ashleigh, dang it! Can't I get just one girl on my (anal retentive) side??
It's easy,
Jan 1, XXX1-Dec 31, XXX1 = 1st year
Jan 1, XXX2-Dec 31, XXX2 = 2nd year
Jan 1, XXX3-Dec 31, XXX3 = 3rd year
and so on..
..
until..
Jan 1, XX10-Dec 31, XX10 = 10th year.
We are at the beginning of the 10 year, therefore the decade has not ended until the end of THIS year. (See, I agree with you Dana.)
Now I'm operating under the assumption, that the calendar begins with the year 1. If your calendar begins with the year 0, then I guess there is no arguing with you...and yes, I'll give you that your decade ended on Dec 31, XXX9.
I guess it all depends on the number you begin with when counting. I know that I start counting with the number "1".
Osbasso, I will not accept anything other than the truth - the truth shall set me free!
Evil Twin's Wife, when you go all OCD on this you'll find the need to let everyone know they are wrong :)
Dana, you are getting the townfolk upset. I see a can of tar, a feather pillow and a pitchfork in your future. QCTM
Yes, I agree. But it isn't a truth a would die to defend!
Doc makes a very good point.
When we speak of the 70's, for example, in addition to bad fashion and questionable taste in music, we refer to them as being the years 1970-1979. So, if you were born in 1980, you weren't considered to be born in the 70's (but, your parents probably had big hair and wore platform shoes).
However, I still stubbornly maintain that this decade isn't over. I'm just enough of a cranky old curmudgeon to do so. I'm grateful that Dana brought this up so I know I'm not the only one (not that she's a curmudgeon).
Still...whatever.
Does it really matter?
You can either view it in sheer mathematical terms. And yes, according to our calendar, there is no year zero. The A.D. stands for Annus Domini (man am I glad I wrote that after Matt or Jay's comments) and it wasn't a zero.
But we also anthropomorhize time, our current calendar is arbitrary and is made to respect astronomical constructs AND have a "meaningful " starting point.
But the sixties didn't start in 1961.
A human reaches a decade on numbers ending with a zero.. because you can only be an actual decade old when you have lived 10 years starting at Day 1 in Year zero. Maybe it's just easier to view the construct of time that way. There may not be a "Year Zero" but there HAD to be a "Day Zero" (coz you aren't a day old until you've actually lived 24 hours).
The same argument took place 10 years ago. I sympathize with the mathematical logic ~but~ from my POV,
1. It doesn't make much difference overall. When I turned 10 in 1968, my father called it my "end-of-first-decade" year, alternating with my "double-digit" year. You can call something whatever you like. Ten years is a decade. Any ten years.
1a. Remember "Today is the first day of the rest of your life?"
2. We all wanted it to be OVER because it sucked so badly. We wanted to wrap it up in tight plastic and put it out with the trash. Not the recycling -- the TRASH!
3. And with all these leap years we've had, not to mention conversion from Julian to Gregorian calendar (both John Adams and Ben Franklin have 2 birthdays listed, which gives them different astrological signs, which makes me go slightly nuts), who's to say we haven't accumulated enough extra years to make starting the new decade 1/1/10 legitimate?
My bigger question is what to call these two decades (2000-2009 and 2010-2019). There still isn't any agreement, though I'm leaning toward "the aughties" for the one we just kicked to the curb.
Cheers...
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