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Off topic: How is the year 2014 said in English? Thread poster: Helena Chavarria
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I haven't been to Britain for some time and therefore haven't heard anyone saying the year in English. The last time I was there, people were still saying 'Two thousand and...'.
Is it more common to say 'Two thousand and fourteen' or 'Twenty fourteen'? I've been looking on the Internet but there doesn't seem to be a general agreement.
I would appreciate any comments because a) I am interested to know and b) Spanish people ask me and seem quite surprised when I tell the... See more I haven't been to Britain for some time and therefore haven't heard anyone saying the year in English. The last time I was there, people were still saying 'Two thousand and...'.
Is it more common to say 'Two thousand and fourteen' or 'Twenty fourteen'? I've been looking on the Internet but there doesn't seem to be a general agreement.
I would appreciate any comments because a) I am interested to know and b) Spanish people ask me and seem quite surprised when I tell them I don't know! ▲ Collapse
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Tim Friese 
United States
Local time: 23:58
Member (2013)
Arabic to English
+ ...
| Twenty fourteen | Mar 27, 2014 |
And in America we don't necessarily pronounce the second 't' in 'twenty' > "twenny fourteen"
'Two thousand fourteen' is okay but a bit formal.
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| Personal preference... | Mar 27, 2014 |
For years up to 2010 I say 'two thousand and ....', but for years 2010 onwards I say 'twenty ...'
It makes sense to me to say 'twenty...', because that is what we do in English for every other year in the 19th century and before, but the 2000s seem to have presented a problem!
In Britain, both are acceptable. Most people still say 'two thousand and fourteen', but both variations are equally correct.
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 06:58
Spanish to English
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'Twenty fourteen' is how I usually say it...
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| Not a problem | Mar 27, 2014 |
In a mere 86 years, we can stop worrying about it
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| I blame Stanley Kubrick... | Mar 27, 2014 |
The system was long established, no hiccups.
And then the year 2000 came near, and all of a sudden everyone was calling it "two thousand" instead of "twenty hundred" which is what it should have been according to what we'd been doing up until then.
But in the meantime we had all heard of a film... and the publicity for that film was clearly saying "two thousand and one".
As Nick says, for the first decade, we then followed this new-fangled practice - but ... See more The system was long established, no hiccups.
And then the year 2000 came near, and all of a sudden everyone was calling it "two thousand" instead of "twenty hundred" which is what it should have been according to what we'd been doing up until then.
But in the meantime we had all heard of a film... and the publicity for that film was clearly saying "two thousand and one".
As Nick says, for the first decade, we then followed this new-fangled practice - but I was sure that we would revert to the old system - so much easier to say "twenty thirty-seven" than "two thousand and thirty-seven". And what about 2137? Mind you, as I commented this morning in a seminar when the subject arose, I don't really care - I shall be long dead!
I took my lead to revert to the old system from the run up to the "twenty twelve" Olympics, by the way. ▲ Collapse
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Emma Goldsmith
Spain
Local time: 06:58
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
| Names of decades | Mar 27, 2014 |
Nick Brisland wrote:
For years up to 2010 ...
An off-topic question on this off-topic thread:
Out of interest, what would you call that decade? If the previous one was the "nineties" would it be the "o's"?
And what about the current decade? The tens???
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| The noughties | Mar 27, 2014 |
we've been away too long!
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The BBC took about eight or nine years to stop saying "two thousand and" and start saying the more logical "twenty". And then they came up with a brilliant comedy series called Twenty Twelve.
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| A bit formal he says!!! | Mar 27, 2014 |
Tim Friese wrote:
'Two thousand fourteen' is okay but a bit formal.
Ahahah, I find this hilarious!!
Only English speakers can say that it's a problem when you speak too formally!!
French is almost at the other end of the spectrum, with a formality bar pretty high...
I suspect that someday English speakers will say "two o one four" because "twenty fourteen" will be too formal...
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Helena Chavarria
Spain
Local time: 06:58
Member (2011)
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | '2001: A Space Odyssey' seems plausible | Mar 27, 2014 |
Noni Gilbert wrote:
The system was long established, no hiccups.
And then the year 2000 came near, and all of a sudden everyone was calling it "two thousand" instead of "twenty hundred" which is what it should have been according to what we'd been doing up until then.
But in the meantime we had all heard of a film... and the publicity for that film was clearly saying "two thousand and one".
And 'noughties' made me laugh, too!
However, I have a feeling that sometime in the future people in English-speaking countries will start referring to the '20-hundreds', and forget all about the decade when they tried to change something that had worked perfectly well for over a thousand years.
Thank you everyone for your comments.
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Tim Friese
United States
Local time: 23:58
Member (2013)
Arabic to English
+ ...
| I prefer 'the two-thousands' | Mar 28, 2014 |
Emma Goldsmith wrote: Nick Brisland wrote:
For years up to 2010 ... An off-topic question on this off-topic thread: Out of interest, what would you call that decade? If the previous one was the "nineties" would it be the "o's"? And what about the current decade? The tens???
I prefer 'the two-thousands' but you'll also hear 'the naughts'
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I think two thousand fourteen is the best way to say.
twenty fourteen doesn't look good.
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Emma Goldsmith wrote: Nick Brisland wrote:
For years up to 2010 ... An off-topic question on this off-topic thread: Out of interest, what would you call that decade? If the previous one was the "nineties" would it be the "o's"? And what about the current decade? The tens???
For 2000-2009, I say 'the two thousands'. I've never liked the phrase 'noughties'.
For 2010-2019, I would say 'twenty tens'. I'm not sure what to do after that. The problem is, when you talk about 'the twenties', or 'the thirties', don't most people automatically think about the 1920s and 1930s?
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Rachel Fell
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:58
French to English
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live in the UK and say "two thousand and fourteen". I am not sure about the decade, though would probably say the "twenty tens" for now. The "noughties" (n.b. sp.) is also still used.
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