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From: msszczep@midway.uchicago.edu (mitchell steven szczepanczyk)
Subject: Re: 'The Year 2000'
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Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1996 20:11:26 GMT
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Jeff Benjamin (jeff@stepupsoftware.com) wrote:
: This term has bothered me for a long time. What will we actually call it
: after 1999? 

: When it's here, will we still say 'The Year 2000'? And what will we say for
: 2001? Will 'The Year' suddenly be dropped?

: And about high school seniors - will it be the 'class of zero zero', or the
: 'class of 2000'? And what about 2001? Will it be the class of 'one'?

This entire matter, especially with regards to what the decade itself
should be called, has been the matter of some heated debate recently in
the Chicago Reader newspaper column, The Straight Dope.  There have been a
number of suggested offerings, including the K's, the zeroes, the zips,
the aughts, the aughties, etc., etc.  

I myself submitted a suggestion: the hoops (because the zeroes look like
hoops), so then 2004 would be "twenty hoop four", 2000 would be "twenty
hoop hoop" and so on.

What do you think?

--------                                 |"Three passions, simple but
MITCHELL SZCZEPANCZYK (shchih-PINE-chick)| overwhelmingly strong, have
University of Chicago Linguistics        | governed my life: the longing
m-szczepanczyk@uchicago.edu              | for love, the search for know-
http://www.umich.edu/~szcz               | ledge, and unbearable pity for
5130 South University, Chicago, IL, 60615| the suffering of mankind
(773) 667-8105 or (773) 667-6073         | [sic]."      --Bertrand Russell
