I had this argument with a few of friends last year when it came to the pronunciation of 2010. My take is that it should be pronounced "twenty-eleven." There is a lot of reasons why it should be pronounced this way. As a matter of fact, I wrote a research paper about this a long time ago:
So what do you guys think?
Code:
“Good evening parents, friends, relatives, teachers, and supporters! Tonight we will be having our 100th graduating class of Lincoln High School. Now without further ado, here is the class of two thousand and ten…or twenty ten…or whatever you want to call it.” Does that sound like a great start to a graduation ceremony? Probably not. That is why it is important to make a standard pronunciation for the year 2010 to get rid of confusion and disputes. “Among experts and the general public, there is a debate as to how specific years of the 21st century should be pronounced.” (Wikipedia.com) There are a number of possible ways to pronounce the year 2010, however, the most professional way to pronounce it should be “twenty ten” instead of “two thousand (and) ten” or the more frivolous “two oh one oh.” Currently, arguments exist about the standard pronunciation of the year 2010. If we don’t fix this problem soon, it will ruin the system we have establish we already have for pronouncing years. Standardization is important to unify concepts and us as a people and avoid confusion. “Twenty ten” is the best candidate for the pronunciation of the year 2010 and this paper will share the numerous reasons why we should call it that. First of all, there are many people and organizations that would agree with me. A common online dictionary says that the correct pronunciation method for the year 2010 is “twenty ten” (Wikipedia.com). Even according to some online internet polls, majority of the public prefers to use the “twenty ten” method for the year 2010. (thefrisky.com). There have even been entire websites dedicated to start convince people that “twenty ten” is right and “two thousand and ten” is wrong. (twentynot2000.com). Also, the 2010 Olympics are being called the “twenty ten” Olympics, Oprah Winfrey has been caught saying “twenty ten” and many commercials, especially automobile commercials such as Buick have used “twenty ten” pronunciation. (ndnforums.com) Now these people and websites are not just promoting “twenty ten” because it just sounds good. Many people have very specific reasons why we should say “twenty ten.” First of all, many people claim that “two thousand (and) ten” is much easier to say. Well I think that “twenty ten” is much easier to say as well as easier to read and write. People just have not become accustomed to saying “twenty ten.” That’s why it sounds awkward to some people. But if you count the number of syllables it takes to say each, you will see that “twenty ten” has 3 and “two thousand ten” has 4, 5 if you include the optional “and.” Also, when it comes to reading and writing, “twenty ten” consists of two words and nine letters while “two thousand (and) ten” comes in with a lengthy three words (four words with the “and”) and 14 letters (17 letters with the “and”). Next, I would like to acknowledge that when we pronounce different years, we typically use the XXYY method. What I mean is that we say the first two digits as one number and the last two digits as one number. Take for example 1839. We take the first two digits and say “eighteen” then the last two digits and say “thirty-nine.” Put it together and you get “eighteen thirty-nine.” Now using the XXYY method for 2010 we get “twenty” then “ten” to get “twenty ten.” For about the last ten years we have been using the “X thousand and YY” method to which has only been used for the years 2000 and present day. I don’t mind the “X thousand and YYY” method for the years 2000-2009 because it does sound bit awkward to say “twenty oh one” for 2001, mostly because it is hard to visually see the “twenty” as a separate entity. Now with 2010, it is easy to distinguish between the “twenty” part and the “ten” part. We have been using the XXYY method for most of history up to “nineteen ninety-nine” (not one thousand nine hundred and ninety nine). It has become a general rule and I don’t see why we have to break it. It’s a new decade so right now would be the best time to revert back to the more professional XXYY method. In conclusion, we should say “twenty ten” as opposed to “two thousand and ten.” There are more reasons to say it than not to. It is time for change to change we were before the third millennium. It’s a new year and a new decade. So while you are trying to lose weight, save money, and kick bad habits, try to add ‘saying “twenty ten”’ to your new years resolutions. Maybe next year, the emcee for Lincoln High School’s graduation ceremony will confidently be able to say, “Here is the class of twenty eleven!” Works Cited 1. http://www.en.wikipedia.org, Wikipedia.org, 9 February 2009, 9 February 2010. 2. http://www.thefrisky.com, The Frisky, 5 February 2009, 9 February 2010. 3. http://www.twentynot2000.com, n.p., 1 January 2010, 9 February 2010. 4. http://www.ndnforums.com, n.p., Norfolk Daily News, 4 December 2009, 9 February 2010.
Comment