No one would have believed in the first years of the twenty-first century...

December 9, 2009 5:52 PM

The 00s. Let's talk about them here. There's been a lot and will continue to be a lot of discussion of this past decade - 2000-09 - in the coming weeks (and perhaps months). Can we please stop talking about what to call them on the blue?

Lots of threads are being derailed by this discussion, which seems to come up every time someone makes an FPP about The Naughties, The Noughties, the 00s, the Aughts, the ooze, the oh-ohs, the early twenty-first century, 2000-09. It would be nice to come to a consensus, but maybe that's for history to decide.

Now discussions of lists are always going to be unwieldy (particularly if you call them art), but seriously we don't need to discuss the name of this decade every time. Do we?

Also, can we stop comparing this to the "when did the millennium begin" meme? Because it's not the same thing at all! (The 90s - 1990-1999, The 00s - 2000-2009, The 10s - tweens? - 2010-2019)

posted by crossoverman to MetaFilter-Related at 5:52 PM (112 comments total)

Understand that if there is some kind of consensus on what term to refer to this waning decade as, I'm going to use one of the other choices, just because you made this post.
posted by eyeballkid at 6:01 PM on December 9, 2009 [16 favorites]

Is this chatfilter day on Meta?
posted by desjardins at 6:02 PM on December 9, 2009

Well, put down my vote for "The Skoogelee Moogelee Zip Zopulous Years?"

Who's with me??
posted by drjimmy11 at 6:03 PM on December 9, 2009 [3 favorites]

The HAMBURGERs.
posted by katillathehun at 6:05 PM on December 9, 2009

We can just call them the schm00pies.
posted by pjern at 6:07 PM on December 9, 2009 [2 favorites]

a lotta options.
posted by gman at 6:08 PM on December 9, 2009

Actually, would it be cool with y'all if we just forgot this decade? Wurst.
posted by billysumday at 6:09 PM on December 9, 2009 [2 favorites]

It's the "twenty-ohs".
posted by hippybear at 6:16 PM on December 9, 2009 [1 favorite]

I actually kind of like the "Naughty Aughties." It sounds like something they'd have come up with in the 1920s, and there would be a kicky dance with it, and a song. "Ohhhh, Susie Bell, my dah-har-ling! Wouldn't it be just dot-ty! If you and me were sah-wee-eet-hearts until the naughty aught-ties!" *jingly-jangly piano*
posted by katillathehun at 6:16 PM on December 9, 2009 [25 favorites]

Shouldn't we be having this discussion a year from when this decade is actually coming to an end?
posted by NoMich at 6:16 PM on December 9, 2009 [1 favorite]

I think we'll end up calling them The Decade Before the Aliens Came and Killed Us All and Stole Our Planet.

Or we would, if we weren't all deadified by murgatroid guns.
posted by Kattullus at 6:18 PM on December 9, 2009 [2 favorites]

I vote in favor of calling them the (opens mouth, emits high-pitched shriek, pulsating spiral appears behind Sticherbeast, eyes glow orange, shriek grows louder and louder, camera zooms in, strange crackling sounds and twitching shadows, shriek detunes and distorts).

More convenient than the "Noughties," anyway.
posted by Sticherbeast at 6:21 PM on December 9, 2009 [2 favorites]

Shouldn't we be having this discussion a year from now when this decade is actually coming to an end?

Fixed that for myself.
posted by NoMich at 6:22 PM on December 9, 2009

They are called "the ohs." This conversation is over.
posted by nanojath at 6:27 PM on December 9, 2009

It's called the Green decade. Not because of Al Gore (or Ralph Nader), mind you, but because of roulette.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:30 PM on December 9, 2009 [3 favorites]

I usually just call them "the two thousands".
posted by octothorpe at 6:30 PM on December 9, 2009

The HoppitaMoppitas
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:36 PM on December 9, 2009 [3 favorites]

Fixed that for myself.

Now if you'd just like to reconsider what a decade is (ie. 10 years, eg. 2000-2009), we might be on to something.
posted by crossoverman at 6:38 PM on December 9, 2009 [5 favorites]

Or we would, if we weren't all deadified by murgatroid guns.

Heavens to... ah, nevermind...
posted by WinnipegDragon at 6:41 PM on December 9, 2009

You can call them Al.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:45 PM on December 9, 2009 [2 favorites]

double ought not?
posted by four panels at 6:46 PM on December 9, 2009 [1 favorite]

The oughts, or the aughts, depending on your outlook or disposition.
posted by The White Hat at 7:01 PM on December 9, 2009

NOBODY really says the aughts, oughts, naughts, or nougats, for that matter. We'll muddle through the next decade without any consensus on what to call the last one, until the end of it (the next one, that is). We will then call the next decade "the 20's", the preceding one "the teens" and this one (the current one, that is) "the turn of the century".

I don't know why you people have to keep having this same discussion every century, when it always plays out the same way every time.
posted by yhbc at 7:04 PM on December 9, 2009 [11 favorites]

argh.
posted by sleslie at 7:09 PM on December 9, 2009 [2 favorites]

I call them the 'Double-Aughts." Like the shotgun they made me want to stick in my mouth.
posted by jonmc at 7:24 PM on December 9, 2009 [3 favorites]

Now if you'd just like to reconsider what a decade is (ie. 10 years, eg. 2000-2009), we might be on to something.

2000 was the last year of the 20th century, not the 1st of the 21st.
Oh happy days. Calendar snobbery is here again.
posted by atrazine at 7:24 PM on December 9, 2009

this is a joke, right...

you want a name for the past decade, which included 8 years of bush..

fucked up...that's the name...
posted by HuronBob at 7:34 PM on December 9, 2009

How about The Oops?
posted by Sys Rq at 7:38 PM on December 9, 2009 [3 favorites]

The h0rsec0cks
posted by Burhanistan at 7:38 PM on December 9, 2009

The Howies
posted by The Whelk at 7:50 PM on December 9, 2009

2000 was the last year of the 20th century, not the 1st of the 21st.

Agreed.

But 1999 was the last year of the Nineties.

The Nineties were not the last decade of the Twentieth Century. The last decade of the Twentieth Century began at 00:00 on January 1, 1991 and ended right before 00:00 on January 1, 2001. That decade shared the last nine years of the Nineties.

Are we done yet?
posted by flabdablet at 7:53 PM on December 9, 2009 [11 favorites]

It says balls on your forehead.

fore00head

Me, I'm calling them balls.
posted by cjorgensen at 7:55 PM on December 9, 2009

The Oi! Oi!'s
posted by Burhanistan at 7:57 PM on December 9, 2009

Sys Rq how about the 00ps?
posted by TooFewShoes at 7:57 PM on December 9, 2009

atrazine: Oh happy days. Calendar snobbery is here again.

While I bow to no one in calendar snobbery it has to be said that there's a bit of confusion as people are conflating two types of decades. The first decade of the 21st Century is 2001-10 while the 00s are 2000-9. Goddamn Bede, not having a year 0... venerable my foot... I can't believe they sainted that fucker... didn't even know zero... and sainted him in 1899, as if just to fuck with everyone... what's so difficult about nothing? it's nothing, I tell ya!
posted by Kattullus at 8:01 PM on December 9, 2009 [4 favorites]

And I see flabdablet beat me to it. I bow to his calendar snobbery.
posted by Kattullus at 8:02 PM on December 9, 2009

I'm with you that it's ridiculous that there are so many arguments on the blue about what to call this past decade, but I hardly see how this post will bring any sort of resolution to the issue.

To be honest, I just don't get why any fucking cares. It's a dumb fucking label. If there are people on the blue who want to waste their time arguing over the best word for the decade, let them - but don't stir the fire. Certainly there are a lot of ridiculous arguments on MeFi - heck, I've instigated some of them, unfortunately - but this is an apotheosis.

With all of the problems the last decade has left us to solve, what to call the last decade seems ridiculously trivial.
posted by Lutoslawski at 8:08 PM on December 9, 2009

Can we please stop talking about what to call them on the blue?

No.

You, of course, are free to stop talking about what to call them if you find the topic does not interest you.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 8:18 PM on December 9, 2009

You, of course, are free to stop talking about what to call them if you find the topic does not interest you.

What interests me is the discussion of the contents of links in a FPP. Not multiple versions of the same discussion in various FPPs.

Unless there's an FPP about "what we call this decade", the discussion appearing in other threads are derails. Hence the MeTa callout.
posted by crossoverman at 8:27 PM on December 9, 2009

The 0-Face Decade
posted by Burhanistan at 8:37 PM on December 9, 2009 [1 favorite]

They are called "the ohs."

half-right - they are called the "oh-ohs"
posted by pyramid termite at 8:40 PM on December 9, 2009

yhbc absolutely has it. There's still no consensus on a name for the first decade of the twentieth century. Most often historians call it "The first decade of the twentieth century" or "the years just past the turn of the twentieth century."

Understanding that, I'm all for calling 2000-2009 "The first decade of the twenty-first century."
posted by Miko at 8:45 PM on December 9, 2009

On the contrary, I think we should talk about everything everywhere in all threads all the time.
posted by turgid dahlia at 8:49 PM on December 9, 2009

I think we should talk about everything everywhere in all threads all the time.

Again?
posted by carsonb at 8:56 PM on December 9, 2009

I think I finally understand what taters are.
posted by iamkimiam at 9:00 PM on December 9, 2009

No settled name is perfect for a decade that fell ass-first and clueless into the new millennium. That it should have known what it was about, but didn't, was its salient feature.
posted by fleacircus at 9:05 PM on December 9, 2009

"There are far too many arguments about what to call this decade on the blue, so let's have another one!"
posted by empath at 9:06 PM on December 9, 2009 [2 favorites]

I don't care, still livin' in the '70s here.
posted by Duke999R at 9:20 PM on December 9, 2009 [3 favorites]

The Zeroes.

End of discussion.
I'm sorry, I can't help but giggle when I think anything might actually be settled here. MetaTalk is where old arguments go to die and rise again as indestructible zombies. It hurts my B-R-A-A-I-N-N-S...
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:30 PM on December 9, 2009 [2 favorites]

l0s l0b0s
posted by Burhanistan at 9:31 PM on December 9, 2009

The Decade Where I Wished Thomas Friedman Was Struck By A Speeding Truck And Died
posted by Damn That Television at 9:32 PM on December 9, 2009 [8 favorites]

The Nullies.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:42 PM on December 9, 2009

I'm a bit tired of hearing people rag on the last 10 years. Yes, we did have 8 years of Bush, and yes, we are spending the last year cleaning up the mess, and yes, there was war and death and terrorism, but let's not be 100% pessimistic.

On the plus side, our best friend the Internet grew out of its awkward adolescence with pimply GeoCities pages into the charming, Web 2.0 multimedia extravaganza we have now. It's good for both avoiding work and free speech, which are the two things the little guy (in the actual little guy sense, not the "I don't want to help poor people" Glenn Beck sense) cares about the most.

Also, medicine and technology improved, right on schedule. And as for pot and gay rights, they didn't go backwards...

Okay, so it was kind of bad, and I don't need to hear that anymore. But I'm not going to take it back to the store and say "This decade's broken." I mean, it's almost used up. It'd just be weird, and they'd probably say no.
posted by mccarty.tim at 9:43 PM on December 9, 2009 [10 favorites]

No, I will keep talking about what to call them whenever I feel like it. I think it's funny that it makes you frustrated. Ha ha ha. I am laughing at you. You are like a clown to me. Your facse might as well be covered in paint. Ahahahaha.

What should we call this decade?

What should we call this century?

What should we call this millenia?

Let's talk about it. Repeatedly. No matter what the answer is, I will never be satisfied.

You have really given me a lot to think about here.
posted by bingo at 9:49 PM on December 9, 2009

'The Ooze'!?

I've never heard that one before but its brilliant. Case closed. It's the Ooze. Those were good times.
posted by mannequito at 9:54 PM on December 9, 2009

"The 00blecks" is, I believe, correct.
posted by Rumple at 9:55 PM on December 9, 2009 [2 favorites]

When in Rome it's the MMs. I'm looking forward to MMX.
posted by tellurian at 10:05 PM on December 9, 2009

The only purpose of any given decade is simply to allow us to look back upon the previous one and think to ourselves "Hey, those were pretty good times after all." This is how we are repeatedly fooled into marching into each new decade's voracious gullet: with a smile and a wink.

Suckers.

Otherwise we would . . .

. . . well, shit. There's just not much we can do about it.

Nevermind.
posted by metagnathous at 10:11 PM on December 9, 2009

Down with the tyranny of the soundbite.
posted by Burhanistan at 10:13 PM on December 9, 2009

mccarty.tim: let's not be 100% pessimistic.

I'm about at 60%, but still working on it.
posted by metagnathous at 10:15 PM on December 9, 2009

^ you should have said "I'm about at 60%, but I don't think I'll make it to 100%."
posted by Burhanistan at 10:17 PM on December 9, 2009 [1 favorite]

You got to try and keep up a little hope.
posted by metagnathous at 10:18 PM on December 9, 2009

The decade you spent using all that toilet paper you bought for the millennium scare.
posted by biochemist at 10:35 PM on December 9, 2009

The Decade Where I Wished Thomas Friedman Was Struck By A Speeding Truck And Died

That's not really very specific, is it.
posted by enn at 10:41 PM on December 9, 2009

Unless there's an FPP about "what we call this decade", the discussion appearing in other threads are derails.

I think you're confusing the Blue with the Green. In case you haven't noticed, the former has looser standards than the latter. A discussion about what we should call the decade in a thread on AskMe would be a derail unless the question were pretty explicitly "what do we call this decade?"

On the Blue, it's only a derail if it's completely out of the blue (heh), like in the middle of a thread about the discovery and exploration of a new cave system. If the post is "National Enquirer's top 83 celebrity scandals of the 00s," then a side discussion about the preferred name for the decade isn't a derail by MetaFilter standards. A derail on the Blue is not "a discussion which we've had a dozen times before and crossoverman personally finds tiresome." If anything, "what do we call the 00s" is at most 0.01 as tiresome as the common "USian vs. American" debate.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 10:45 PM on December 9, 2009

tellurian: When in Rome it's the MMs. I'm looking forward to MMX.

Heh, then Jesus was active in the XXXs.

But then Mary Magdalene knew all about that.
posted by Kattullus at 10:48 PM on December 9, 2009 [2 favorites]

The 90s - 1990-1999

Nope!

The 90s began on 9 November 1989 and didn't end until 11 September 2001.

(Similarly, the 18th Century runs from 1789 to 1914)
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:02 PM on December 9, 2009 [7 favorites]

Welcome to the U.S. 80's - 90's
posted by Burhanistan at 11:06 PM on December 9, 2009

That decade will be called here what it is called everywhere else. Don't waste your time trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

If the problem is that people derail threads over this gibberish, flag their comments as noise.
posted by pracowity at 11:15 PM on December 9, 2009

If the problem is that people derail threads over this gibberish, flag their comments as noise.

Flagged for ambiguity.
posted by battlebison at 11:32 PM on December 9, 2009

Seriously, other than the fact that it doesn't conform with whatever yrrr personal preference may be, What Is Wrong With "The Zeroes"? It doesn't require explanation. It's not some word like oughts (aughts?) that most of the English speaking world doesn't use. And it speaks simply, yet profoundly to the generally half-baked spirit of the millennium (so far).
posted by philip-random at 12:29 AM on December 10, 2009

HI I'M CROSSOVERMAN AND I CAN OVERTHINK A DECADE OF BEANS
posted by Optamystic at 1:34 AM on December 10, 2009

the oh-oh's.
posted by qvantamon at 2:47 AM on December 10, 2009

The 90s began on 9 November 1989 and didn't end until 11 September 2001.

And the current decade started in 9/12/2001, and will end when we stop feeling the way we did on 9/12 and abandon the 9 principles and 12 values and become socialists and the terrorists win.
posted by qvantamon at 2:55 AM on December 10, 2009

The decade when we reaped what Reagan had sown

or

The Zips

or

The 198th decade where Jesus didn't come back
posted by double block and bleed at 3:08 AM on December 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

As long as the subject of what to call groups of numbers is present I have one thing that's been bothering me.
A negative times a positive equals a negative.
A negative times a negative equals a positive.
A positive times a positive equals a positive.
Or:
(-)(+)=(-)
(-)(-)=(+)
(+)(+)=(+)
The pattern is obvious. Whoever designed math is some kind of crypto-eugenicist that abhorred number-mixing. Literally "The product of mixing is always negative.". It seems like there should be some third kind of number, the pegatives or the nositives.
I bet I'd understand math better if numbers weren't such nazi's.
posted by vapidave at 3:53 AM on December 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

After a long, disgusting and graphically obscene description of the years 2000-2009.....

Talent Agent: *fighting back dry heaves* Jesus Christ, that was a fucking deplorable mess. What the hell do you call that?

Me: The Aristocrats!
posted by chillmost at 4:14 AM on December 10, 2009 [2 favorites]

The Decade Formerly Known As The Future
posted by DU at 4:25 AM on December 10, 2009 [9 favorites]

The Michaelbayean Era
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 4:37 AM on December 10, 2009

If you convert 2000 to hexdecimal, it's 7D0. So you can write the years 2000-2009 as 7D0-7D9, and call them "the 7D's" (although you'd have to include everything up to 2015 in that, too).

When you say this out loud, it sounds a lot like "the 70's", which will surely confuse the hell out of people. This is a feature, not a bug.

And the next hexdecade will be called "the 7E's", which, depending on your accent, sounds very much like "the 7D's" and "the 70's".
posted by FishBike at 5:52 AM on December 10, 2009 [5 favorites]

Just don't call them late for dinner?
posted by owtytrof at 6:39 AM on December 10, 2009

NOBODY really says the aughts, oughts, naughts, or nougats, for that matter.

My mom does. In all seriousness. Of course, she also refers to the bathroom as "the biffy," so you might not want to take her as an authority on popular nomenclature.

By extension, yeah, I'll admit it - I say the"aughts."
posted by grapefruitmoon at 6:41 AM on December 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

What the hell is nougat anyways? I's not toffee and it's not taffy, but like a weird hybrid of the two.
posted by slogger at 6:43 AM on December 10, 2009

"The "nougat" used as an ingredient in many modern candy bars in the United States and United Kingdom is different from traditional recipes, being a mixture of sucrose and corn syrup aerated with a whipping agent such as egg white or hydrolyzed soya protein or gelatine. It may also have vegetable fats and milk powder added, and is typically combined with nuts (usually peanuts), caramel or chocolate. In contrast, some American confections feature such "nougat" as the primary component, rather than one of several. Three Musketeers, Milky Way, Mars, Snickers, Salted Nut Rolls, Reese's Fast Break, Reese's Whipps, and Baby Ruth all use different types of the confection." - wikipedia

See, this is why I can't have a smartphone. Cause I would do this ALL THE TIME.
posted by The Whelk at 6:53 AM on December 10, 2009

"The Decade That Ate My Balls, Gargled My Blood and Spat It On My Dead Grannie's Grave" has sort of a nice ring.
posted by RDNZL at 6:55 AM on December 10, 2009

I think we've all learned something here.
posted by languagehat at 7:00 AM on December 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

NOBODY really says the aughts

I do. I even say "the aughties." For reals. Like, in public and everything.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:46 AM on December 10, 2009

NOBODY really says the aughts

TONS of people say "the aughts". But then tons of people call our two-dollar coin a "toonie".

So, just, shoot me now.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 8:45 AM on December 10, 2009 [3 favorites]

My sister recently posted on facebook that she's attending a "WHAT THE FUCK DO WE CALL THE NEXT DECADE PARTY?" on New Years. I commented: "What the fuck did we call the last decade?" To which she responded "y2k."

Since I'm a pedant, my head promptly exploded.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:45 AM on December 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

I'm going with the aughts as well. Mainly because I look forward to a time when I'm an old man and I can say things like "I remember back on aught-nine when they first fired up that Hadron Collider, boy those were the days. You just don't get proper accelerators anymore, what with everything being pocket sized" and then some punk kid behind me in line will cough, trying to get me to just pay my bill so everyone else can check out, and I'll have to teach that whippersnapper a lesson in respecting elders. Maybe I'll hit him with my space-cane.

Stupid future kids. Get of my hover-lawn!
posted by quin at 8:46 AM on December 10, 2009 [6 favorites]

And by the way, is next year "oh ten?"
posted by rtimmel at 9:03 AM on December 10, 2009

In memory of the late David Foster Wallace, we should call it "The Decade of the Tucks Medicated Pad" (that seems appropriate somehow) or some other similar subsidized term.

(Though probably *not* "Decade of Glad," unless massively ironically.)

Personally, I am always sympathetically embarrassed for people when I hear them use the term "the Noughties."
posted by aught at 9:15 AM on December 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

And by the way, is next year "oh ten?"

It is in my mind. As for the world outside my mind... probably not.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 9:16 AM on December 10, 2009

the bit in the middle
posted by sgt.serenity at 9:44 AM on December 10, 2009

The w00ts?
posted by ZsigE at 9:55 AM on December 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

(Similarly, the 18th Century runs from 1789 to 1914)

The 19th century called, and wants their hundred years back.*


*ironic use of late naughties, early 00blecks formulaic expression
posted by Rumple at 10:02 AM on December 10, 2009

I will call them "The Last Decade." And beginning 2020, I will call it "Two Decades Ago" or "The Decade Before Last." And so forth.
posted by jabberjaw at 10:30 AM on December 10, 2009

My 00s. Let me show you them.
posted by Eideteker at 10:47 AM on December 10, 2009

No, it really is the Two Thousands. As in Two Thousand Nine. As it becomes more necessary to distinguish these years from the century, it'll change.
posted by klangklangston at 10:56 AM on December 10, 2009

Will 2010 be "two thousand ten" or "twenty ten"?
posted by Sys Rq at 11:01 AM on December 10, 2009

It's the Preteens, people.
posted by 23skidoo at 11:14 AM on December 10, 2009

Twenty-ten if you're talking about the year. Two-thousand-and-ten if you're talking about sweaty Roy Scheider cradling a Russian cosmonaut.
posted by katillathehun at 11:14 AM on December 10, 2009

Or we would, if we weren't all deadified by murgatroid guns.

heavens to murgatroid!
posted by shmegegge at 11:27 AM on December 10, 2009

I've been calling them "the aughts", "the double aughts", or "the zeroes".
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 12:23 PM on December 10, 2009

The n00bs. Right?
posted by ekroh at 12:57 PM on December 10, 2009

I've been calling them the sweatpants boners, but then again I've been self-administering a twice daily transmission fluid enema since Sunday.
posted by Divine_Wino at 1:00 PM on December 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

I call them the 2000's. Oh, what do you mean when you're talking? WELL, EXCUSE ME MR POPULAR not everyone gets to talk to people outside the Internet!
posted by qvantamon at 1:28 PM on December 10, 2009 [2 favorites]

I haven't been calling them anything. Should I be concerned?
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:26 PM on December 10, 2009

Yeah, after a bit of reflection and hearing it spoken aloud, the correct term is "two thousands". This is the final say in the matter. Thank you for participating. Have a good night!
posted by Burhanistan at 6:56 PM on December 10, 2009

These are the pre-teens, followed by the teens, followed by the twains.

But only because I think we could do with more Samuel Clemens quotes.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 7:18 PM on December 10, 2009

My 00s. Let me show you them.

I read "my 00s" as "my humps."
posted by octobersurprise at 8:06 PM on December 10, 2009

I resolved this already. Can we move on?
posted by plinth at 3:06 AM on December 11, 2009