I know it probably a matter of semantics but it's a question that keeps coming back 'at me'.
2007-01-13 06:19:31 · 10 answers · asked by Goodmomma1 3 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Good question. There seems to be a change that takes place, generally, when we move from 1900 numbers to 2000 numbers. Not just in terms of the calendar, but most numbers in that range in other contexts. For example.. saying "I make nineteen hundred dollars a month" doesn't sound strange. But saying " I make twenty hundred dollars" would. Then, once you get to 2100, I would go back to the "twenty-one hundred" pattern. Not sure why it is... just the way it sounds.
2007-01-13 07:12:28 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I do say "twenty oh seven" and have been using this form since twenty hundred. In my opinion there are two reasons the other form is popular.
Firstly, "Two thousand" is a nice round number and when the year came along it was an easy and popular form. That established the base for the next year.
Secondly, Kubrick's film "2001 a Space Odyssey" was always pronounced "Two thousand and one". The name of the year was well established by the time it came along.
If the first two years of the twenty hundreds had their names entrenched as "two thousand" and "two thousand and one", it is logical that the same pattern would stay for the following years.
I have heard newsreaders and others who use the "two thousand and..." form using "twenty..." when referring to dates in the future. I would suggest that by 2013 most people will be saying "twenty thirteen". There is nothing wrong with starting now, as I said, I have been using it for years.
Happy twenty oh seven everyone!
2007-01-13 08:28:06 · answer #2 · answered by tentofield 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I never thought of this one before. Before y2k we said 19-then what ever the last two digits were for example 1989 would have been said, Nineteen Eighty Nine instead of One Thousand eighy nine. Perhaps once we get into the century a little more people will begin to say 20 then the last two digits of whatever the year is.
Great question and one to ponder for the rest of us.
2007-01-13 06:38:03 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
How about 2-007? If someone understands what you mean, it's fine. 20-10 will be the last of the 2000's! Its semantics.
2007-01-13 12:11:31 · answer #4 · answered by ••Mott•• 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because it is 2007. 20-0-7 means nothing. 2007 is tangible.
2007-01-13 06:34:52 · answer #5 · answered by Modus Operandi 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
doesn't take as long. If one thousand nine hundred and ninety seven was shorter than nineteen ninety seven we would've said that.
2007-01-13 06:45:51 · answer #6 · answered by longnosedquoll 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dont know, but i usually say 20-0-7 and my teacher gets mad, but i still do it/....
2007-01-13 06:22:58 · answer #7 · answered by lexi(: 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have heard it said both ways, but usually they say it the first way you mentioned.
2007-01-13 06:33:39 · answer #8 · answered by Yomi 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hmm...I guess it's because of place value.
2007-01-13 06:22:58 · answer #9 · answered by Dee 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it's not what you say, it's how you say it..
2007-01-13 06:24:00 · answer #10 · answered by Willy 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋