When do decades begin and end?

[Texas Triangle]

Happy New Year’s Eve and day everyone!

So question, When do Y’all Believe decades begin and end?

0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0

Is 2020 the last year in the 2010’s or the first year in the 2020’s? Apparently there is a giant debate on it.

I have always lived under the assumption that decades begin with the zero, not end them. But my parents are saying the 2020’s start with 2021 so who is right? When do decades begin and end?

[Saciu]

I maintain that there is no set beginning and end for a decade; a decade is simply a period of time spanning 10 years. So yes, the 2020s will be another decade, but next year will be in 9 identical decades to the one we're in currently (the decades 2011-2020 to 2019-2028). When you say "the decade" in general, than can either refer to ordinal decades (2011-2020, 2021-2030) or cardinal decades (2010-2019, 2020-2029). I might perhaps be getting the two mixed up, however. Personally, I prefer using ordinal decades, but the word decade is generally more likely to refer to a cardinal decade.

[Saciu]

But, without a doubt, 2020 will not be in the 2010s, 2010s referring to the cardinal decade. It is, however, part of the 202nd decade, as has ever year since 2011.

[Nuroblav]

What Saicu said above basically. I'd say it begins 2020.

[Zandovia]

The Gregorian calendar, standard for many countries, had no year zero. It started in 1, so 1 was the first year, so the first decade was 11, not 10, as this is 9 years instead of 10. We never gained a year since, so the second decade was 21, third was 31, so on so forth. The 80’s lasted from 1981-1991, the 90s lasted from 1991-2001, and all the way to the 2010s, which has lasted since 2011, and will last until 2021 or December 31st, 2020. Therefore the 2010s lasts from 2011-2021 (or December 31st 2020)

[Texas Triangle]

Thanks for the responses, I had no idea year zero doesn’t exists, but I still believe the decade starts in 2020

[Page]

Common sense would be for a decade to match the years in it that feature the matching word. "The 30's" means every year called XX3X, so 30 to 39.

[Page]

Thanks for the responses, I had no idea year zero doesn’t exists, but I still believe the decade starts in 2020

Even though there is no year zero and the new millennium technically started in 2001, that doesn't affect the terminology of decades. No one says that 1950 was part of the 40's.

[Saciu]

Common sense would be for a decade to match the years in it that feature the matching word. "The 30's" means every year called XX3X, so 30 to 39.

Yeah, there's no sense in saying that 2020 is in the 2010s, since it's not a year that follows the form 201X.

[Antityranicals]

There is no year 0. So the first ten years, or decade, in the AD scale are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ,9, and 10. The second decade is years 11-20. The two-hundred second decade, therefore, is the years 2011-2020. Thus, 2020 is part of the same decade as 2019. The start of the two-hundred third decade is 2021, not 2020.

[Nuroblav]

Thanks for the responses, I had no idea year zero doesn’t exists, but I still believe the decade starts in 2020

Yeah there wasn't a year 0 - that monk got his calculations when finding Jesus' birth (Jesus may have not even been born on Christmas Day either). I prefer to have 2020 in the next decade, but then again I start my week on a Saturday so who knows.

[Jebslund]

Thanks for the responses, I had no idea year zero doesn’t exists, but I still believe the decade starts in 2020

Yeah there wasn't a year 0 - that monk got his calculations when finding Jesus' birth (Jesus may have not even been born on Christmas Day either). I prefer to have 2020 in the next decade, but then again I start my week on a Saturday so who knows.

He wasn't. He was born in the spring, as most babies were in that time.

The reason Christmas is on the 25th is A) because we only celebrate one day of a 12 day festival, B) basically, we celebrate the last day of it, and C) the Catholic church, in an effort to convert people from a pagan faith, basically appropriated whatever holidays it could from pagan faiths. Christmas was originally a winter celebration that the Catholic church took and made into a celebration of Christ, as a way of saying, "Look! Our faith has a winter festival, too, and it's bigger and better than yours!". In the muddling that oft occurs as traditions and festivals are passed through the generations of changing cultures, languages, and conversions, it went from being a celebration of Christ, to a birthday party for Him, to a celebration of family, to an all but meaningless commercial holiday and time of public boasting about good works and feel-good "charity".

Happy New Year’s Eve and day everyone!

So question, When do Y’all Believe decades begin and end?

0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0

Is 2020 the last year in the 2010’s or the first year in the 2020’s? Apparently there is a giant debate on it.

I have always lived under the assumption that decades begin with the zero, not end them. But my parents are saying the 2020’s start with 2021 so who is right? When do decades begin and end?

If you're asking when the '10s end and the '20s begin, 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Your parents aren't necessarily wrong, though, as others have pointed out that there is no Year 0, and therefore the argument can be made that starting each decade with XXX1 is correct.

[Page]

That there is no Year Zero is a mistake from a mathematics perspective. The BCE years are essentially negative numbers with one being added each subsequent year. So if 2BCE is followed by 1BCE, it makes no sense for 1BCE to be followed by 1CE. That's saying that -1 + 1 = 1, which is objectively wrong.

We ought to rename 1BCE as 0CE, 2BCE as 1BCE, and so on.

[Bear Stearns]

The 1990s = 1990-1999

[Nuroblav]

He wasn't. He was born in the spring, as most babies were in that time.

The reason Christmas is on the 25th is A) because we only celebrate one day of a 12 day festival, B) basically, we celebrate the last day of it, and C) the Catholic church, in an effort to convert people from a pagan faith, basically appropriated whatever holidays it could from pagan faiths. Christmas was originally a winter celebration that the Catholic church took and made into a celebration of Christ, as a way of saying, "Look! Our faith has a winter festival, too, and it's bigger and better than yours!". In the muddling that oft occurs as traditions and festivals are passed through the generations of changing cultures, languages, and conversions, it went from being a celebration of Christ, to a birthday party for Him, to a celebration of family, to an all but meaningless commercial holiday and time of public boasting about good works and feel-good "charity".

Exactly that.

The 1990s = 1990-1999

Great decade (for music anyway)

[Labbos]

Decade just means ten years, so technically they're always ending, because it's always ten years after some point in time.

However, we tend to refer to decades by years having similar numbers in the Gregorian calendar. Although that naming scheme hit a bit of a wobble after 1999, the twenties (or 2020s) will clearly be 2020-2029.

The talk about there being no year 0 misses two important points.

1) Nobody is claiming that the twenties is offset exactly by an integer number of decades starting from 1 CE. In fact, even adding a year 0 in wouldn't help, unless you were to include it in both the first decade CE and the first decade BCE. It's more obvious in our dual naming for centuries, where the 1900s ran from 1900-1999, whereas the twentieth century ran from 1901-2000. Similarly, the 1000s ran from 1000-1999, whereas the second millennium ran from 1001-2000. Those who claimed that it wasn't the end of a millennium or even century at the end of 1999 were wrong. It just happened that there was another millennium ending one year later. There isn't even a commonly used name for the decades that they refer to; 203rd decade would work, but the twenties is what will be used, and they begin in 2020.

2) The English language is defined by the usage of its speakers. People understand that 1980 was in the 80s and 1990 wasn't. Words mean what they mean, not what people wished they did.

[Heloin]

Do you say 1930 is part of the 20’s?

[Antityranicals]

That there is no Year Zero is a mistake from a mathematics perspective. The BCE years are essentially negative numbers with one being added each subsequent year. So if 2BCE is followed by 1BCE, it makes no sense for 1BCE to be followed by 1CE. That's saying that -1 + 1 = 1, which is objectively wrong.

We ought to rename 1BCE as 0CE, 2BCE as 1BCE, and so on.

So are we just supposed to announce that this coming year is actually 2019? BC isn't just negative AD, it's a different scale, so it doesn't have to be exactly contingent.

[Antityranicals]

Do you say 1930 is part of the 20’s?

Yes.

[Antityranicals]

Decade just means ten years, so technically they're always ending, because it's always ten years after some point in time.

However, we tend to refer to decades by years having similar numbers in the Gregorian calendar. Although that naming scheme hit a bit of a wobble after 1999, the twenties (or 2020s) will clearly be 2020-2029.

The talk about there being no year 0 misses two important points.

1) Nobody is claiming that the twenties is offset exactly by an integer number of decades starting from 1 CE. In fact, even adding a year 0 in wouldn't help, unless you were to include it in both the first decade CE and the first decade BCE. It's more obvious in our dual naming for centuries, where the 1900s ran from 1900-1999, whereas the twentieth century ran from 1901-2000. Similarly, the 1000s ran from 1000-1999, whereas the second millennium ran from 1001-2000. Those who claimed that it wasn't the end of a millennium or even century at the end of 1999 were wrong. It just happened that there was another millennium ending one year later. There isn't even a commonly used name for the decades that they refer to; 203rd decade would work, but the twenties is what will be used, and they begin in 2020.

2) The English language is defined by the usage of its speakers. People understand that 1980 was in the 80s and 1990 wasn't. Words mean what they mean, not what people wished they did.

Riddle me this, then: When was the first decade?

[Saiwania]

I weighed the pros/cons of both systems and I'm satisfied that its more logical to start at 0 and end with 9.

[Labbos]

Riddle me this, then: When was the first decade?

I don't know, because decades generally aren't numbered. If you mean the first decade CE, that would be 1-10 CE. That would put us in the 202nd decade now, with the 203rd decade beginning in 2021. But I've never heard anybody use that naming scheme for decades.

I'm curious in return, which years do you think made up the twentieth century? And which years made up the 1900s?

[Antityranicals]

Riddle me this, then: When was the first decade?

I don't know, because decades generally aren't numbered. If you mean the first decade CE, that would be 1-10 CE. That would put us in the 202nd decade now, with the 203rd decade beginning in 2021. But I've never heard anybody use that naming scheme for decades.

I'm curious in return, which years do you think made up the twentieth century? And which years made up the 1900s?

The twentieth century lasted from 1901 to 2000. The 1900s, on the other hand, were from 1900 to 1999. Similarly, the twenties were from 1920-1929, but the 193rd decade was from 1921-1930. Just like the 1900s weren't technically a contingent century, the twenties weren't technically a contingent decade. They were a decade, in the sense that we might call the years 2006-2015 a decade because they are a contingent decade, but they weren't one of the two hundred and two contingent decades which have as of yet been.

[Labbos]

The twentieth century lasted from 1901 to 2000. The 1900s, on the other hand, were from 1900 to 1999. Similarly, the twenties were from 1920-1929, but the 193rd decade was from 1921-1930. Just like the 1900s weren't technically a contingent century, the twenties weren't technically a contingent decade. They were a decade, in the sense that we might call the years 2006-2015 a decade because they are a contingent decade, but they weren't one of the two hundred and two contingent decades which have as of yet been.

I think we're in agreement then: the twenties will run from 2020-2029. Since that's the naming scheme that everybody seems to use for decades, that's what I choose to celebrate.

[Antityranicals]

The twentieth century lasted from 1901 to 2000. The 1900s, on the other hand, were from 1900 to 1999. Similarly, the twenties were from 1920-1929, but the 193rd decade was from 1921-1930. Just like the 1900s weren't technically a contingent century, the twenties weren't technically a contingent decade. They were a decade, in the sense that we might call the years 2006-2015 a decade because they are a contingent decade, but they weren't one of the two hundred and two contingent decades which have as of yet been.

I think we're in agreement then: the twenties will run from 2020-2029. Since that's the naming scheme that everybody seems to use for decades, that's what I choose to celebrate.

I suppose technically, I could say that August 27th, 2014, 3:26 PM, was the beginning of a decade, a decade which would end August 27th, 2024, at 3:26 PM.