Already the battle has begun. In just a few short weeks, there will be a cavalcade of non-stop, round-the-clock blathering about the past 10 years.
(Yes, sorry to break it to you; it has been fully TEN years since the whole Y2K thing.)
We must take action and come to a consensus about the verbiage that will be adopted lest we are subjected to a veritable nails on a chalkboard term ad nauseum, in infinitum.
I beseech thee to consider forthwith only using one term and one term only to denote the years 2000 though 2009: The OHs.
If nothing else, please vote in the poll below.
I hear what you are thinking. (Don't ask; it was exposure to highly unstable radioactive waste as a child. I cannot, however, see what you are wearing under your clothes.)
"The ohs!?! Well, that kinda blows!"
Yes, it's not the best term ever; but it has a chance of sticking and it beats the alternatives.
You have heard it too much already. The clunky. The insipid. "The TWO THOUSANDS".
Try saying it fast a few times first. Then, consider the fact that it actually refers to an entire millennium and not simply a decade.
There is another term, running a distant third from my perspective, that has begun to creep its way into the conversation. Michael Moore posted this link on his Facebook page today:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/...
The films that defined the noughties
This decade has given rise to a fragmented, pick’n’mix cinematic culture - but what are the 100 defining films of the last ten years?
Sure, it is cute. Sure, it is technically correct. But who under the age of 75 knows that the term "nought" refers to the number zero? It is a word used by the likes of Mr. Burns, who once recited his social security number thusly:
Nought, nought, nought, nought, nought, nought, nought, nought, two. Damn you, Teddy Roosevelt.
Good luck getting Gen X, Y, Z and so on to adopt such archaic terminology into the modern lexicon.
Finally, there is the term on behalf of which I submitted this little blog entry into the vast tubes of the interwebs.
The Ohs
• Short
• Simple
• Monosyllabic so even the moranic troglodytes of the world can pronounce it.
• There are plenty of tasty word play options that can be used for headlines and one-liners by those with a comedic bent (Stewart, Keith, et al.)
"The Oh Nos", "Oh Oh, Spaghetti Ohs" and so on
• There was a certain guy elected to two major offices in the decade as well. Some of you might recall a speech that he gave in 2004 that marked the beginning of his ascendancy into the national spotlight. And, of yeah, he won the Electoral College vote by a 2 to 1 margin about a year ago which made him the 1st leader in the western world of African descent.
Think of all the delicious Obama terms that can be tied into a decade whose name uses the letter that refers to his name.
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If we cannot reach a grassroots consensus on this topic, the powers that be will awkwardly dictate to us what they think we ought say (or nought), and after two thousands of such annoying attempts to sound clever, we will all wish there was a decree from somewhere that could have stopped it all before it began.
Speak now, or forever hold your peace.