Decade

I've seen a number of posts about starting a new decade at the end of the year and am reminded of the 2000 millenium controversy. While it is true that a new decade will start at the end of the year (in fact, a new decade started just now ... and now ...), the 203rd decade A.D. does not begin until 2021. Technically, that means of counting decades begins on calendar years that end on a one and go all the way through the years that end on a zero (this is because A.D. [or C.E.] started on year one--there was no year zero).

That said, most people tend to group numbers by the tens column (e.g. the sixties). In this sense, we are just about to leave the teens and enter the twenties. I, for one, am glad to be able to use a decade name--like the twenties--as an identifier again. It was so very strange during the early years of this century (and millenium) when people tried to refer to them as the "aughts" or the "ohs." The teens weren't much better.

I find it fascinating that we are about to enter the twenties as the name "the twenties" has certain connotations in American history and society. I, for one, am hoping that our twenties turn out quite a bit better than the last century's--especially considering how they ended. We have a lot of advantages this time around, but there are some disturbing parallels too.