A Pronunciation Odyssey by Rob Kyff on Creators.com

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A Pronunciation Odyssey

What year is it?

That question, often asked to determine the mental acuity of people who've been conked on the head, sounds pretty straightforward.

But how do you say "2009"?

Is it "two thousand nine"? "Two thousand and nine"? "Twenty oh nine?" Or even, as some ardent Lincoln scholars insist, "one hundred score and nine"?

Most people say "two thousand nine" or "two thousand and nine," though purists disparage the latter because in mathematics "and" indicates a decimal point; so "two thousand and nine" technically means 2000.9 (roughly late November).

Only a few pesky sticklers, such as Charles Osgood, the bow-tied host of "CBS News Sunday Morning," favor "twenty oh nine." This is odd, because 100 years ago, everyone said "nineteen oh nine."

Back then, if you had dared to say, "nineteen hundred nine," Teddy Roosevelt would have pulled up in a Stanley Steamer, beaten you unconscious with a Victrola and asked, "What year is it?" when you awoke.

The "twenty oh nine" mode is hardly foreign to us. After all, we grew up studying the Norman invasion of "ten sixty-six" and singing the futuristic song "In the Year Twenty-five Twenty-five."

So what gives?

Many linguists blame our preference for "two thousand nine" on the title of the 1968 movie "2001: A Space Odyssey," the first part of which is universally rendered as "Two Thousand One." Cue dramatic chord shift from film's score – "Duh-dah."

But the "Space Odyssey Effect" (a.k.a.

"Kubrick Rubric") should have worn off by now. So here's the big question: Next year will we say "two thousand ten" or "twenty ten"?

Early returns are mixed. True, some people are referring to the "Twenty Ten Olympics" in Vancouver and the "Twenty Twelve Olympics" in London, yet TV commercials for car dealers are touting the models for "two thousand ten."

David Crystal, author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, predicts the "thousand" will be mostly gone by 2011 ("twenty eleven"), while British dictionary editor Ian Brookes thinks the switchover will occur in 2013 ("twenty thirteen").

But we can't even rule out another, if illogical, variant: "twenty oh ten." The Stanford Daily recently reported that Stanford juniors showed their class spirit by chanting, "Oh-ten! Oh-ten!"

Oh, my.

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. To find out more about Rob Kyff and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.