just a reminder

[winterbadger]

Since the radio at year end seemed to be full of idiots making "this was the decade of" lists, a reminder that **2010** is the last year of the first decade of the 21st century, not 2009. This goes back to the common, but foolish, misapprehension that 2000 was the first year of the century (and millennium).

For better or worse, most of the western world uses the Christian calender, which dates from Jesus's birth (thinly camouflaged in some places as "Common Era" but, I mean, really, it's only common because Europe and the Americas are overwhelmingly Christian).

There is no Year 0 in the Christian calendar.

In case that's having trouble sinking in, let's repeat it. There is no Year 0 in the Christian calendar. The year before Jesus was born was 1 B.C. The year he was born was 1 A.D. Thus, the first 100 years after his birth were 1-100 A.D. The first thousand years after his birth were 1-1000 A.D. Thus, the first *two* thousand years were 1-2000 A.D., and the second millennium since his birth ended with 2000 A.D.

We've got one more year to go in this decade, so let's make the most of it! :-)

Comments

[wolfette]

a decade is ten years. If one started counting "this decade" in 2000, as many did, then this is now a new decade. if you started counting "the decade" in 1995 then 2005 would have been a "new" decade.

[winterbadger]

True, but the whole basis of our year-numbering system is the Christian calendar. Which doesn't start with 0. It starts with 1, so decades should all start with 1. 2001 - 2010.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to see you listed your mood as pedantic, because while I agree with what you're trying to say here about calendrical eras, decades are nothing more than intervals of 10 full years. There's nothing inherently wrong with saying "the decade of the 1860s" just to give one example. It's something that most people will understand immediately.

Yes, I was pedantic in the same way once. I'm still tempted at times. But unless somebody tries to say that the 20th Century CE (or AD) ended with 31 Dec 1999, you're really just being an annoying pedant to tell people it's wrong to think of an arbitrary decade, or century, as starting at the zeroth year.

[winterbadger]

"But unless somebody tries to say that the 20th Century CE (or AD) ended with 31 Dec 1999"

...which they do all the time. This post was caused by at least one radio news program stating that "Now that we've come to the end of the first decade of the 21st Century...."

"you're really just being an annoying pedant "

You know, I'm really OK with that. :-) It's how most people think of me anyway...

[tylluan-wen.livejournal.com]

I'm with you and I don't care if anyone thinks I'm an annoying pendant.

[winterbadger]

Cheers! :-)

[hobbitblue.livejournal.com]

The problem I have with this is, if the year 2010 is the last year of the first decade, that must mean 2000 was the last year of the previous decade. But if I talk about something happening in the 90s I don't mean the year 2000. When one talks of the Swinging '60s, one doesn't tend to mean "and 1970", so I think people are using the words differently at different times.