The New Decade
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
It is widely assumed that much human endeavour is focused on striving for the future and, at appropriate intervals, celebrating the achievements of the race. To this end, the approach of the end of what has been called the second millennium has been met with much soul searching.
It is only during such momentous times, however, that terms like 'millennium' have any meaning to most people. Hardly anyone, for instance, fondly remembers an eon, or even a century, preferring to focus on individual years and decades.
The end of the century, however, causes something of a conundrum. For comfort's sake people name decades, and thus have revelled in the sixties, the seventies and the cringe-worthy eighties. But, with the turn of the century, there is no digit upon which people can hang their memories.
The zeroes? The O's? The nothings? It's difficult to find any inspiration in such epithets. So it was that a movement began to give the new decade a truly memorable flavour and to have it known forever as: the noughties.
It is only during such momentous times, however, that terms like 'millennium' have any meaning to most people. Hardly anyone, for instance, fondly remembers an eon, or even a century, preferring to focus on individual years and decades.
The end of the century, however, causes something of a conundrum. For comfort's sake people name decades, and thus have revelled in the sixties, the seventies and the cringe-worthy eighties. But, with the turn of the century, there is no digit upon which people can hang their memories.
The zeroes? The O's? The nothings? It's difficult to find any inspiration in such epithets. So it was that a movement began to give the new decade a truly memorable flavour and to have it known forever as: the noughties.
