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The 2010s decade, pronounced "The Twenty Tens", "The Two Thousand (and) Tens" or "The Tens",[1] is the upcoming decade beginning January 1, 2010 and ending December 31, 2019.  

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 years of the current decade,[citation needed] in theory this could mean any year up to 2999.

One article suggests that since former years such as 1809 and 1909 were commonly pronounced as "eighteen oh-nine" and "nineteen oh-nine", the year 2009 should naturally be pronounced as "twenty oh-nine", and 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.[2]

A January 2000 Australian Broadcasting Corporation poll found 40% of people favored calling the 2010s the "twenty tens", 60% said "two thousand and tens".[3]

In addition, the Vancouver Olympics, taking place in 2010, are being officially referred to by Vancouver 2010 as "the twenty-ten Olympics".[4] The London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 has restricted the commercial use of the terms "Two Thousand and Twelve" and "Twenty Twelve", to protect the London 2012 Olympics.[5] Chicago 2016, which operates the official Chicago bid for the 2016 games, refers to the "twenty-sixteen games".

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 that of "twenty ten", but the flow of "twenty eleven" beats "two thousand (and) eleven".[6] Alternatively, Ian Brookes, editor-in-chief of Chambers Dictionary, suggests the change will occur in 2013 (as 2012 is often referred to as "two thousand and twelve").

In the population

  • People born during the post-World War II baby boom begin to reach the age of retirement in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. This rapid expansion of the number of retired persons is expected to have a drastic effect on the economies of these countries. For example, in the USA, Social Security and Medicare may be under strain. This expected surge in the distribution of retirement benefits has been dubbed the pension bomb.
  • World population is likely to reach around 7.5 billion by the end of the decade, representing a significant slowdown in growth. In Europe and Japan, the population is projected to decline during the decade.[7] Stabilization is likely to occur soon after 2020.

In science and technology

Sporting events

See also

Fictional references

References

  1. ^ http://www.abc.net.au/2000/mill/dating.htm
  2. ^ Norfolk, Andrew (April 4, 2005). "Experts clash over millennium bugbear". The Times. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ "ABC 2000 - About 2000 - What do we call the 2000's?".
  4. ^ "Labels for Years? A Question for Linguists?". FieldNotes: for the Anthropology of British Columbia. 2005-07-28.
  5. ^ London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 British Crown 2006; Accessed February 22, 2007
  6. ^ Experts clash over millennium bugbear — The Times
  7. ^ United Nations, based on 2004 figures
  8. ^ IPv4 Address Report
  9. ^ IPCC website
  10. ^ Chabert, Laurence (June 8, 2009). "Nuclear fusion power project to start in slimmed-down version". Agence France-Presse. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ Thibodeau, Patrick (2008-06-10). "IBM breaks petaflop barrier". InfoWorld. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
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