Remember Y2K and the fears and trepidation generated by the beginning of a new century?
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009
So here we are, almost a decade later, and computers are still working. But so many things have happened in these ten years, that's it seems hard to imagine a world so transformed by technology, politics and shifting social landscapes. That's what WHYY's Chris Satullo explores in his weekly audio column Center Square.
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The Guardian newspaper in Englandcalls them the Noughties. I like that – it conveys the numerical aspect and it's also homophonic with the Naughties
i really like the name naughty aughties. it sounds fresh and something that flows well for our generation.
its gotta be the naughty aughties for sure. best name for the decade far and away.
Naughty Aughties is a name I heard that I think is perfect. Aught meaning zero and naughty makes it catchy to remind us of the fun we are having.
I'm going to have to agree with OP on this one-Naughty Aughties seems to be the most intelligent combination of wordplay and description of any ideas I've seen so far. In addition to being an apt description of the decade as a whole, it can also be used as a nifty way to refer to an individual year within the decade; for example, 2007 can be known as 'aught seven'.
NAUGHTIES, AUGHTIES, NAUGHTY AUGHTIES, Naughts and Aughts are the ONLY clear NUMERICALLY & MNEMONICALLY correct phrases. Saying the "Age of…" requires one in the future to be a history buff – for example, when was the "Bronze Age" or the "Age of Aquarius". Roaring Twenties, Psychedelic Sixties leaves no doubt as to which decade you are referring to. Bet you can name some 'naughty' events that occurred this decade.
I like the naughty aughties or just aughties. I can actually envision reminiscing about the "aughties" in my senior years, whereas the other names are as fluid. The decade is not yet over and I am already nostalgic about by freshman year of college back in "naughty aught one"
A few ideas to name this decade: "The Naughty Aughties", "The Anxious Aughts", "The Haughty Aughts","The Willy Nils", "The Zeros of Neros and Heroes", "The Nils of Frills"
How about the 2K 0's.
How about the 0-no's? '01, '02, '0-no!
Chris
I've been referring to the last nine years as the 00s as is ah-ohs. The sound a child makes when they have done something wrong. Ah-oh: Florida recount; Ah-oh: how did we let terrorists hijack those planes; ah-oh: another unwinnable war; Ah-oh: we've turned a budget surplus into a huge deficit that just keeps growing… you get the picture. We all are watching and participating in these disasters, seemingly unable to change course.
Ah-oh, maybe in another decade…
Deidre
Back in the early 90's an artists' publication for which I was an editor (Art & Artists) ran a contest to name the first decade of the 21st century. Our top two entries were the "uh-ohs" (same idea as Deidre's "ah-ohs" – and remarkably prescient) and the "naughts" (a bit like the "fraughts" but a little less tendentious).
I liked the "fraughts", but as you said, that is an English word and is not too popular over here. Building on the idea of the anxieties you mentioned (and others you didn't mention like the state of 401k's) – how about the "Woes", a combination of the oh's (00)and woe.
The Fraughts. Or, The Decade of the Fraughts. Plays on frauds and the increased anxiety of Americans at home, between themselves, their weltenschaung, and the pervasive "seize mentality". Say "fraughts" and it's likely to be mistaken for "frauds". Got fooled, din't you?
How about the OO's (pronounced ooze). One will need to clean up when leaving it.
Definitely "The Terror Decade"
This has been the pro-life, pro-war decade!
Perhaps this decade can be named "Los Dos Mil" (the two-thousands) since in this time is when Hispanics became the larges minority and the general public woke up to the fact that in the coming decades the US will become bilingual and strongly influenced by Latin culture.
Other ideas: iDecade, iYears
Chris, Aren't you a bit early? The decade doesn't end until 12/31/2010, at midnight. I don't care what idiocy took place on January 1,2000. You start to count with one not zero. Your first birthday is at the end of your first year, not your moment of birth. NPR should know better. But for next year at this time, how about "the media-driven reality denial decade"?
Sam – So your position is that 1920 was not part of the Roaring Twenties and 1960 wasn't part of the Sixties?
Not getting it.
Chris
Sam and Chris,
Yes it is a conundrum like trying to remember when 12.00 pm is it noon or midnight?
Chris,
In my 69+ years I have lived through much but division and mistrust seems to be at a peak!
Fraught's as in Burdened, Weighed down seems to work in many ways.
Terry
Chris, the "sixties" that we refer back to definitely did not start in 1960; they really didn't start until about 1963. The same is true for the "roaring twenties." In fact, it seems that most decades don't take shape until at least 2-3 years past the namesake year.