Find Your Valentine
Slog
News & ArtsMonday, November 16, 2009
Life Only 46 Days Left in the Decade
Posted by Jen Graves on Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Time to name it, the New York Times points out.
Proposed in the story:
The Era of Misplaced Anxiety
The Decade of Disruptions
When the North Went South
The Decade of the Unthinkable
Decade of Overshoot
The Noughty-Oughts
Bob
This is not a name but it's good:
“Without a doubt, we’re seven billion people driving at light speed down a dark and foggy highway and we can’t see past the windshield.”
Or this:
“On the grand scale of things, our descendants will look at us as a bunch of crybabies.”
How about just: Fail! (The exclamation point is intended to indicate that we did not mean to fail, and are worked up about it, and may just be worked up enough about it to try to make it right, but maybe not, because an exclamation point is kind of childish, and so is an internet meme, and so is making a name for a decade in the first place.)
1
Bob gets my vote.
Although, how could "Mission Accomplished" not be an option?
Or "The Decade of the Bailout"
Although, how could "Mission Accomplished" not be an option?
Or "The Decade of the Bailout"
2
"The Last Decade of Meat"
The largest cultural shift after this decade will be that it will no longer be socially acceptable to consume beef and pork, similar to current attitudes towards people who eat dogs or human beings. Just now, at the end of 2009, the mainstream media is finally realizing that meat is the #1 cause of our public health crisis (swine flu, cancer, heart disease, obesity) and the #1 cause of our climate change crisis (by far the leading cause of global warming).
The largest cultural shift after this decade will be that it will no longer be socially acceptable to consume beef and pork, similar to current attitudes towards people who eat dogs or human beings. Just now, at the end of 2009, the mainstream media is finally realizing that meat is the #1 cause of our public health crisis (swine flu, cancer, heart disease, obesity) and the #1 cause of our climate change crisis (by far the leading cause of global warming).
5
"A Wrong Turn Corrected". Or "How Al Qaeda Defeated The US, But Was Repelled By Democracy Seven Years Later".
6
@4 Technically it should, but it won't be.
Just as the 80's were from 1980-1989, and the 90's were from 1990-1999, the last decade will be 2000-2009. It's how our brains work.
Just as the 80's were from 1980-1989, and the 90's were from 1990-1999, the last decade will be 2000-2009. It's how our brains work.
7
@4, it's difficult to imagine how people could think that the year 2000 was part of the nineties, but apparently they do. I think it's because they've been confused by the waves of pedantry that nearly drowned the nation on the subject of when centuries start.
10
Decade of Debt (ALLITERATION!)
The decade of 2+2=5 or the Bad Math Years
The wasted Decade.
The one where poor people got fucked over by rich people XXVI
I'm really tired.
The decade of 2+2=5 or the Bad Math Years
The wasted Decade.
The one where poor people got fucked over by rich people XXVI
I'm really tired.
11
@7 and others---It isn't pedantry, it's math and logic.
You don't have a dollar until the last penny is in your hand. You don't have a decade until the last year is done.
But people are by and large not much into logic (Palin, religion, prejudice etc).
You don't have a dollar until the last penny is in your hand. You don't have a decade until the last year is done.
But people are by and large not much into logic (Palin, religion, prejudice etc).
12
@2 - yeah, let us know how that works out. I'm a vegetarian, too, but people really do like them some meat.
I like the Fail! Decade. Or Decade Fail!
And I think you could make a pretty good argument that we fully intended to fail.
I like the Fail! Decade. Or Decade Fail!
And I think you could make a pretty good argument that we fully intended to fail.
13
The decade we went crazy.
Worked for the 1900s, the 1800s, the 1700s ....
Freakish obsessions with end times and the presumption - because face it, God is NOT a clock watcher - that Jesus will come back at a calendar year that's a multiple of 100 - have always been bad news for Western Civilization.
Worked for the 1900s, the 1800s, the 1700s ....
Freakish obsessions with end times and the presumption - because face it, God is NOT a clock watcher - that Jesus will come back at a calendar year that's a multiple of 100 - have always been bad news for Western Civilization.
14
@11: There's a difference in nomenclature, though. We refer to 1901-2000 as the twentieth century, because it was the twentieth century of the Common Era. We refer to 1980-1989 as the Eighties because they all start with 'eighty'.
The boundaries between the common names for decades don't have to align with the boundaries for the common names of the centuries.
The boundaries between the common names for decades don't have to align with the boundaries for the common names of the centuries.
16
I like Decade of Fail. Centuries later historians will look back and struggle to figure out why we called it that and used that wording, and that's exactly as it should be.
17
@14 and @15 are correct. Hartiepie has inadvertently proven my point, complete with spurious reference to "logic", which does not support his argument.
20
@17 -- Oh boo to you... and I do believe you proved mine!
@14 puts it well while not changing what I said at all. Popular usage doesn't always match pedants or grumpy old men.....
@14 puts it well while not changing what I said at all. Popular usage doesn't always match pedants or grumpy old men.....
22
What I wanted this article to be about is what to *call* the decade - out loud, not in print. The 80's, the 90's, the ... ? There doesn't seem to be a consensus yet.
23
@21, what does "year zero" have to do with decades?
You are confusing the issue of when centuries begin -- the year ending in "01", as a million pedants pointed out so ceaselessly and tiresomely beginning about a decade ago -- with the issue of how decades are grouped. No one refers to "the ninth decade" of such-and-such a century, in which usage it might make sense to start with "1" and end with "0"; we refer to the "sixties", which are the years that have "sixty" in them, or "nineties", or what have you.
The current decade of the noughts began with 2000 and ends this year with 2009. 2010 is part of the teens, not the noughts. Anyone who thinks otherwise is subscribing to a falsehood based on a fairy tale.
You are confusing the issue of when centuries begin -- the year ending in "01", as a million pedants pointed out so ceaselessly and tiresomely beginning about a decade ago -- with the issue of how decades are grouped. No one refers to "the ninth decade" of such-and-such a century, in which usage it might make sense to start with "1" and end with "0"; we refer to the "sixties", which are the years that have "sixty" in them, or "nineties", or what have you.
The current decade of the noughts began with 2000 and ends this year with 2009. 2010 is part of the teens, not the noughts. Anyone who thinks otherwise is subscribing to a falsehood based on a fairy tale.
25
I vote:
- 2000-2009: the Aughts, as in "I suppose it was back in aught-six, when I was fresh outta college with a degree in thinkin' machines, this was before the Great Reboot, ya see..."
- 2010-2012: the Tweens.
- 2013-2019: the Teens
- 2000-2009: the Aughts, as in "I suppose it was back in aught-six, when I was fresh outta college with a degree in thinkin' machines, this was before the Great Reboot, ya see..."
- 2010-2012: the Tweens.
- 2013-2019: the Teens
29
Fnarf, where were these wave of pedants you keep talking about? It sure wasn't in the popular media because they got only a few scant mentions there.
30
I agree w/ @24... When I look back on my 20s, I'll remember how this period of my life was shaped by the crappy leadership of Bush.
Au revoir to the "Bush decade." bleh
Au revoir to the "Bush decade." bleh
31
Some of those are clever, but when all is said and done, this decade will be referred to as 'the Bush years'. That is all that will need to be said.
32
@29, you don't remember hearing OVER AND OVER in stentorian tones (reminiscent of Will in Seattle telling us how he personally invented the internet at Simon Fraser University in 1989) that, well, no, ECKSHUALLY, the nyew millennium won't begin until January 1st, tyew thousand and WUNN, because there wasn't a year ZERO, so the FIRST millennium began on January 1st, Year One, don't you know. Because I do. Maybe you didn't hear it over all the shouting about Wye Too Kay, but it was there.
33
How can we miss that this isn't anything like iambic pentameter, which William S even wrote the Sonnets generally if he did write them? I don't buy the earlier "Shakespeare" posts.
(although I used Sonnet 55 on my late love's tombstone...it seems much more Shakesperian), and it's one of 3 or 4 sonnets I think are remarkablle of his)
(although I used Sonnet 55 on my late love's tombstone...it seems much more Shakesperian), and it's one of 3 or 4 sonnets I think are remarkablle of his)
35
Fnarf and others are correct. The 'aughties' range from 00-09. Don't know what to call the last one, but I'm looking forward to adding a fresh decade to my iPod playlists. Gotta find the perfect first track(s), though.
37
@35, may I suggest The Lucksmiths, "I suppose I'll get used to it eventually, but so far I prefer the twentieth century".
39
Damn Fnarf, you must really go ballistic with those word guys who point out that Immaculate Conception is not a synonym for Virgin Birth.....
Personally, I'm voting for calling the decade The Naughties...lots went on that shouldn't have, and plenty didn't that should have....
Personally, I'm voting for calling the decade The Naughties...lots went on that shouldn't have, and plenty didn't that should have....
40
@37: thanks for the suggestion; I like! Singer sounds like a chipmunky Morrissey--but released in '02 apparently and so solidly in the aughties.
42
Whoops, should have hit "Save changes."
The theme for W's administration should be "underwater," BECAUSE:
Hurricane Katrina, millions of mortgages, waterboarding, much of the world as a result of W's environmental policies, but also the sense of "après moi, le déluge" and possibly even the location of Dick Cheney's secure undisclosed. (US Naval Observatory?)
The theme for W's administration should be "underwater," BECAUSE:
Hurricane Katrina, millions of mortgages, waterboarding, much of the world as a result of W's environmental policies, but also the sense of "après moi, le déluge" and possibly even the location of Dick Cheney's secure undisclosed. (US Naval Observatory?)
43
@32 - never said that, dickwad.
But @27 is probably correct. I doubt we'll call it that until around 2040 though.
But @27 is probably correct. I doubt we'll call it that until around 2040 though.
44
I think The Awl got it right when they declared that that this decade shall be known as "The Nads": http://www.theawl.com/2009/11/2000-2009-…
45
@ Fnarf, no, sorry. Guess I wasn't watching the same channels. I heard it a couple of times, but yeah, Y2K was a much bigger deal in my recollection.
46
I wanna call it "The Future". Because everyone made those damned "where are my flying cars and jetpacks?" jokes the entire goddamned time.
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
SL Letter of the Day: Pill The Homos! by Dan Savage
-
The AP Is Reporting That Whitney Houston Is Dead by Paul Constant
-
Slog Bible Study: Deuteronomy 21:10-14 by Goldy
-
Because Guns Make Us Safer by Goldy
-
SL Letter of the Day: Daddy Loves Who? by Dan Savage
-
Gregoire: "This is signed!" by Eli Sanders
-
Gay Kids Are Still Killing Themselves by Dan Savage
-
Whitney Is Dead, And So Is Hollywood by Kelly O
-
Planned Parenthood Exposed! by David Schmader
-
Stranger Tournament of Dunces, Match 3: Rep. Mark Hargrove vs. Rep. Norma Smith by Eli Sanders
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (47) RSS