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2010

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This article is about the year 2010. For other uses, see 2010 (disambiguation).

2010 (MMX) will be a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. It will be the first year of the 2010s decade.

Pronouncing 2010 and subsequent years

See also: Year pronunciation
Among experts and the general public, there is a debate as to how specific years of the 21st century should be pronounced in English. Although the majority of English-speakers say "two thousand (and) X" for any specific year post–1999, it is often suggested that the continuation of this type of pronunciation for the entire 21st century would be inappropriate or unnatural, given the alternative "twenty X" option.

Academics suggest that since former years such as 1805 and 1905 were commonly pronounced as "eighteen oh" or "nineteen oh" five, the year 2005 should naturally have been pronounced as "twenty oh-five". Many experts agree that majority usage of "two thousand (and) X" is a result of influences from the Y2K hype, as well as the way "2001" was pronounced in the influential 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Many people, including linguistic and academic experts, predict that the "twenty X" pronunciation method will eventually prevail, but a timeframe as to when this change will occur often differs. The year 2010 is suggested by many, while 2011 and 2013 are popular as well. The latest timeframes for change are usually placed at 2020 or 2100.

According to a recent press release, David Crystal, author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, has predicted that the change of pronunciation to "twenty X" will occur in 2011, as "twenty eleven", explaining that the way people pronounce years depends on rhythm, rather than logic. Crystal claims that the rhythm or "flow" of "two thousand (and) ten", beats out that of "twenty ten", but the flow of "twenty eleven" beats out "two thousand (and) eleven". Alternatively, Ian Brookes, editor-in-chief of Chambers Dictionary, suggests the change will occur in 2013. And finally, the UK Times has suggested 2020 as a final timeframe for the change, saying "If people can have “twenty-twenty” vision, then surely they should also live in the year “twenty twenty”. The team which organized the successful bid to host the Olympic Games of 2012 in London, styled the year they will hold the games as "twenty twelve". This appears to have been accepted with the British public.

In addition, some notable organizations are already switching to the "twenty" system. The favoured description for the 2010 Vancouver, Canada, Winter Olympic Games is stated as the "twenty ten" Winter Olympic Games, the 2010 FIFA World Cup is stated as the "twenty ten" FIFA World Cup, South Africa & the 2010 Commonwealth Games, India prefers the description of this Event as the "twenty-ten" Delhi Commonwealth Games, India.

Some suggest that after the "twenty X" pronunciation for current and future 21st century years has taken hold, future references to early 21st century years will change accordingly from the previous "two thousand (and) X" method; thus, they say, future generations will refer to the date of the 9/11 attacks in the United States as September 11, "twenty oh-one", just as 1911 was referred to as "nineteen hundred and eleven" at the time, but is now called "nineteen eleven".

Predicted and scheduled events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Unknown dates

Major religious holidays

2010 in fiction and popular culture

Computer and video games

Film

Literature

Music

  • Pearl Jam's song "Do the Evolution" references the world in this year: "I crawled the earth, but now I'm higher. 2010, watch it go to fire."
  • Bad Religion have a song titled "Ten in 2010" about this year on their album, The Gray Race.
  • The Mint Chicks have a song titled "2010", which is their first song recorded as a 3 piece after the departure of bassist Mike in 2007. It is the b-side to the Walking Off A Cliff Again 7" vinyl, and will only feature on that format.

Television

References



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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 05:17:11 PDT (GMT -0700)
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