2009 is "Twenty-Oh-Nine"!

Hello and wishing a very Happy 2009 to one and all! Wait a moment, did you just pronounced it as "two-thousand-and-nine"? In this first blog article of the year, and in the spirit and joy of the new year, allow me to correct this most widely-used mistake.

Correct Pronunciation
Contrary to popular usage, 2009 is actually pronounced "twenty-oh-nine", (the same goes for years 2001 - 2008). Similarly, year 2000 is not pronounced "two-thousand" but instead should be said the year "twenty hundred". This convention is based on the fact that year 1900 is pronounced "nineteen-hundred", same goes for say, 1909 is pronounced "nineteen-oh-nine" and so on and so forth. In the article 21st century, Wikipedia states the following:

Regarding pronunciation of 21st century years, academics suggest that since former years such as 1805 and 1905 were commonly pronounced as "eighteen oh" or "nineteen oh" five, the year 2005 should naturally have been pronounced as "twenty oh-five".^[6] A less common variation would have been "twenty nought-five". Many experts agree 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.

Many people, ranging from linguistic and academic experts to Internet bloggers, predict that the "twenty X" pronunciation method will eventually prevail, but a time frame as to when this change will occur often differs. The year 2010 is suggested by many,^[7][8] and the Vancouver Olympics, taking place in 2010, is being officially referred to by Vancouver 2010 as "the twenty-ten olympics", while 2011^[6] and 2013 are popular as well. The latest timeframes for change are usually placed at 2020.^[6]

While common media like the TV still uses "two-thousand-and-nine", Channel NewsAsia has been noted to use the "twenty-oh-nine" format.

2000 is NOT the start of the new Millennium
Next year we will be rid of the "oh" in our year with 2010. Hopefully we will stop saying "two-thousand-and-ten", because honestly, is that not more mouthful than "twenty-ten"? This kind of common mistake, used globally no kidding, reminds me of the great mistake when people call year 2000 the new millennium, i.e also the start of the 21st century. Academics generally agree that 2001 is the first year of this 21st century, not 2000. If you remember your early studies in History too, any teacher would concur.

First picture of the year. Introducing the sister! Okay enough gap, happy 2009 all! Twenty-oh-nine that is. XOXO!
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