Ten years ago, I was dying to learn what to call the first decade of a new millennium. A lover of history, this problem had intrigued me for a long time. The history books referred to the “Roaring Twenties” and the “Dirty Thirties.” There was even a series of made for television movies entitled after each decade starting with the fifties, and there is a current TV sitcom, “That Seventies Show.”
But I had never run across any mention of the years 1900-1909 as a collective term. There isn’t much reference to the next ten years as the teens, but I could find no name for the first decade at all.
So ten years ago, I thought I’m finally going to get my answer. I’m finally going to find out how we’re going to refer to this decade.
Oh, how wrong I was. In fact, the only thing I’ve learned is that the reason I wasn’t able to find any term for the other first decades in history is because no one can seem to agree to what to call it. No one could agree then, and it seems no one can agree now.
I’ve seen a few attempts: the zero’s; the oh’s; the oh-oh’s; the twenty-hundred’s. The one I liked the best was the “aughts” or the “aughties.” I liked this term until I recently read that this is a slang version of the word “naught” which means “nothing.” The actual word “aught” is a Shakespearian term that means “anything.”
When I learned that bit of lexicographic knowledge, my first thought was to go with it. After all, the expression “anything goes” does work rather well in describing the last ten years.
However, as a lover and teacher of Shakespeare, well, I just can’t stand the thought of people using “aught” so loosely. So then I thought if “aught” has become a substitution for “naught,” well then maybe we should just call this decade the “naughts” or better yet, the “naughties.”
This last idea holds a certain amount of poetic justice for me. Considering all the “naughty” behavior of the last ten years, from terrorist attacks to Wall Street greed, calling our first ten years of the second millennium the “naughties” does seem to fit. Of course, there is much that is “naughty” in any decade - so much so that I’m sure Santa compiles quite a long list each ten years.
Regardless of what we call it, this decade will not soon be forgotten. This, of course, exacerbates the name problem. I think that over time, history writers and trivial pursuit players will repeatedly and at great length make reference to this decade. I’m hopeful that after enough time has passed, the scholars and pop culturists will eventually agree on a common name, on a standard, catchy turn of phrase, that will instantly evoke memories of this time. They will have to come up with something and when they do, I hope someone tells me. I’m still dying to know what to call the last ten years.
About Me
- Bill~Goodwin
- Neodesha, WL-WILSON, United States
- I grew up in Kansas City, but have worked as a high school English teacher for over twenty-years in rural Kansas. I am a proud father, devoted husband, and I write every day.
I would consider myself an aficionado for naming the current decade as I have spent countless hours since the end of the 80's pondering the dilemma.
ReplyDeleteThe only NUMERICAL & MNEMONICALLY correct phrases to name the century's first decade are AUGHTIES, NAUGHTIES, NAUGHTS, AUGHTS or NAUGHTY AUGHTIES.
A few suggestions use one or more specific events that occurred during the decade. They will probably never be used from a radio and broadcasting point of view because they do not encompass this whole decade and they aren't pleasing to the ear. Radio stations introduce their programming along the lines of “Music from the 80s, 90s and Today”. Soon, they’ll be replacing it with “Music from the 90s (NineTIES), ______TIES and Today”. The best choices contain either AUGHTIES, NAUGHTIES, NAUGHTY AUGHTIES, NAUGHTS or AUGHTS. Using events usually requires one to use adages like "The Age of" or "Era" which is more descriptive of a time period, not necessarily an actual decade. There is a huge difference between what a decade is "remembered for" versus what a decade is "referred to as". Many suggestions (Age of Confusion, , Era of Misplaced Anxiety, Decade of Disruptions, North goes South, etc) do NOT pass this simple litmus test. Any suggestion that would require you to be a history buff in the future, shouldn't even be considered.
The media needs to embrace the only viable choice from a NUMERICAL & MNEMONICAL point of view. The first decade of previous generations did not have this sense of urgency as mass marketing really didn't exist. The mass marketing concept was introduced to the public with the advent of radio broadcasting of the mid 1920's (Roaring Twenties) and heightened in the 1940's with television accessibility.
Why Naughty Aughties? We NEED an identifier. Not many people can pinpoint the actual years of Generation X and Generation Y, the Stone Age or the Industrial Revolution. Naughty Aughties and its offshoots leave no doubt to this identity as “naught” and “aught” both mean zero. Jazzing up “Naught” to “Naughty” and combining it with “Aughties”, inadvertently describes the tone of the first decade that includes the Years 2000-2009. Marketing sense tells us that the 00’s are not memorable enough nor are they appealing to the public. Naughty Aughties is simple, catchy, rhymes and intimates fun and mischievous behavior, as well as being sweet and sexy. Previous decades are easily identifiable and well marketed, but until now, there seemed to be no cohesion for the years 2000-2009. Naughty Aughties fills the void in a fun and “roll off your tongue” sort of way.
Obviously, many “naughty” things have occurred in the entertainment, political, sporting and economic arenas from global, national and local perspectives that may depict our moral compass. Jackson’s Superbowl Half-time show, OJ Simpson, Britney Spears, Enron, Martha Stewart, Cheney and Clinton are just a few highlights. Can you come up with more? Sure, you can!
Scott Pedersen
www.namedecade.com