HAPPY 2010!
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From: Jersey City, NJ
I think we go through this argument every decade/century/millennium. The there was no 0 AD argument pretty much answers the question.
Primo is of course technically right, however for practicality's sake, we rarely refer to the 20s, for example, as being 1921-1930. A decade is 10 years, it does not have to be a specific ten years. Relating to the beginning of the Gregorian Calendar, yes, 2011 is the begging of the "next" decade. However, in relation to how we practically refer to our calendars, this can be considered the start of a Decade. Decades, like most things, are relative. Therefore, I could start counting off my own decade as of tomorrow... just nobody would have a clue what I was talking about.
So in respect to relativism, this IS the start of a new decade, the '010s... just as we had the 20s, 60s, 70s, etc. Though, in respect to the year 1 AD, that is clearly wrong. You're going to come up short counting decades--fortunately, we rarely count back that far by 10s.
On the other hand, you can just do what I do, and not give a damn. Millennium/Century/Decade... whatever, I just say Happy New Year.
Primo is of course technically right, however for practicality's sake, we rarely refer to the 20s, for example, as being 1921-1930. A decade is 10 years, it does not have to be a specific ten years. Relating to the beginning of the Gregorian Calendar, yes, 2011 is the begging of the "next" decade. However, in relation to how we practically refer to our calendars, this can be considered the start of a Decade. Decades, like most things, are relative. Therefore, I could start counting off my own decade as of tomorrow... just nobody would have a clue what I was talking about.
So in respect to relativism, this IS the start of a new decade, the '010s... just as we had the 20s, 60s, 70s, etc. Though, in respect to the year 1 AD, that is clearly wrong. You're going to come up short counting decades--fortunately, we rarely count back that far by 10s.
On the other hand, you can just do what I do, and not give a damn. Millennium/Century/Decade... whatever, I just say Happy New Year.
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From: Chicago
Originally Posted by primo
the year 2000 marked the end of the century and the end of the millenium, yes or no?
Originally Posted by primo
did AD start with 0 or 1?
there was no year 0... it was 1 AD before that it was 1 BC
there was no year 0... it was 1 AD before that it was 1 BC
Originally Posted by primo
if I borrowed 10 dollars from you on December 31st 2000 and we decided that I would pay you 1 dollar on every January 1st for the next 10 years what year would I completely pay you back?
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ps: sweet goomba pic
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From: Chicago
for those curious as to what the wiki page says:
[QUOTE=wiki]
A decade is a period of ten years. The word is derived (via French) from the Late Latin decadem which actually stands for ten days. The other words for spans of years also come from Latin: lustrum (5 years), century (100 years), millennium (1000 years).
Although any period of ten years is a decade, a convenient and frequently referenced interval is based on the tens digit of the calendar year, as in using 1960s to represent the decade from 1960 to 1969.
[QUOTE=wiki]
A decade is a period of ten years. The word is derived (via French) from the Late Latin decadem which actually stands for ten days. The other words for spans of years also come from Latin: lustrum (5 years), century (100 years), millennium (1000 years).
Although any period of ten years is a decade, a convenient and frequently referenced interval is based on the tens digit of the calendar year, as in using 1960s to represent the decade from 1960 to 1969.