WE HAVE HAD THE TWENTIES, THE FORTIES, AND THE NINETIES. WHAT SHALL WE CALL THE DECADE THAT IS NOW COMPLETED?
A) The 'Aughties'.
B) The Twenty Hundreds.
C) The Naughties.
D) The Naughts.
E) The Nothings.
F) The Malfunctions. (Wardrobe, Katrina, Iraq, Wall Street)
G) The Bushies.
H) The Nothings.
I) Let's just pretend that Pam has walked in on Bobby in the shower, and do a re-do - from Florida 2000 to Washington January 2008. We'll call it "The Pam's"
1 comment:
The 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.
Post a Comment