end of the decade?

and likewise:

https://media.bloomsbury.com/rep/bj/9781628924206.jpg

This is the last week of the decade. Some thoughts:

(1) As far as cyber-pedantry goes, one of the more annoying manifestations is the “actually the new decade starts in 2021 because there’s no Year Zero” crowd. (Remember the whole when does the new millennium really start controversy? Good times.) Decades are conventional concepts, and the conventional concept of a decade starts with the zero year. Saying the conventional concept is wrong is an oxymoron, since what makes conventional concepts conventional is convention.

Actually this objection to the pedantic objection might actually be more pedantic than the objection itself. Sorry about that.

(2) It’s going to be a relief to get back to decades that have non-problematic names. I literally never heard anyone call this one “the teens” or “the tens” or anything else for that matter. Did it even have a name? And “the aughts” was ridiculous. I’ve also literally never heard any American use the word “aught” in any context, except when clumsily trying to give the first decade of this century a name.

(3) Culturally speaking, decades don’t really track the calendar except loosely. For example, as a cultural matter the Sixties really ran from November 1963 to August 1974. Etc.

From http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2019/12/ten-years-gone-2

decades don't work the way centuries do

year 0 is the first year

Agreed, I love the Khmer Rouge

https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/nintchdbpict000312438126.jpg

the decade ended on 21 12 2012 along with everything else

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