How to Pronounce the Year 2010

Upon booting the computer this afternoon, I saw the following message on Yahoo!. That reminded me that last week when a student paused in her sentence, not knowing how to say "2010," I told her either "twenty ten" or "two thousand and ten" was OK. In fact, the first thing came to my mind was "twenty ten."

http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/100102/8/1y2wh.html

2010英文怎麼說？　習慣順口即可

更新日期:2010/01/02 12:16 趙元穎

 

時序進入2010年，到底「2010年」的英文該怎樣說才對呢？有人念成twenty-ten，也有人使用two thousand ten，大家眾說紛紜，英國BBC也針對這個問題進行討論，結果為了顧及發音容易，BBC最後傾向採用「twenty-ten」，其實這兩種說法都沒錯，只要大家說得順口就行了。

My comments: "Twenty ten" was what came first into my mind.

「2010」一開年，英文到底該怎麼說？是中規中矩的two thousand (and) ten？還是簡潔的Twenty ten？連老美都傻傻搞不清楚。美國民眾：「我通常是說twenty-ten。」

美國民眾：「我可能會說two thousand ten，因為我已經習慣了這種用法，two thousand nine、two thousand one。」

美國民眾：「我想我應該會說twenty-ten。」

街頭隨機一問，大多數人選用twenty-ten，其實two thousand再加尾數的習慣用法，來自於本世紀初的千禧蟲，還有1968年的科幻經典片2001太空漫遊。

一般老美隨性所至，脫口而出之前，根本不會想太多，不過2010年要舉辦的溫哥華奧運，官方名稱用的是twenty-ten，而2012年的倫敦奧運則是兩種用法都通，還特別立法限制商業使用。美國民眾：「我可能會用twenty-ten，但我猜有時候two thousand ten也會脫口而出，所以兩者皆可。」

說的沒錯，根據牛津英語百科全書，大家約定俗成，口語通順就行了，兩種說法都ok，只是到了2011年之後，two thousand eleven說起來比較拗口，twenty加尾數的說法，應該就會開始大行其道了。

My comments: That means, 2011 would be pronounced as "twenty eleven" by most people.

The following is an English news report I found online about this topic:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6897583/BBC-stars-discuss-how-to-pronounce-2010.html

The BBC has tackled the topic of how to pronounce 2010 with David Tennant suggesting 'twenty-ten' is preferred.

 Published: 1:10AM GMT 28 Dec 2009

 While some say ‘twenty-ten’, others are referring to ‘two thousand and ten’ and even ‘two-o-one-o’.

 The subject was raised in a programme on Radio 2 on Boxing Day – which was hosted the Doctor Who actors David Tennant and Catherine Tate

Tennant, 38, referred to the year as ‘twenty ten’, when telling a listener to have a “wonderful new year”.

Tate, said: “Oh twenty-ten – get you! Who’s been reading the compliance rules!’”

Tennant told their guest, Bernard Cribbins: “We’re supposed to say twenty-ten.”

But Cribbins said he believed most elderly people would prefer to say two thousand and ten.

Miss Tate added: “You’re not allowed to say two thousand and ten…The people in there are exploding!”

The BBC has a unit which decides on uniform pronunciation. However, the BBC said there had been no ruling on 2010.

A spokesman said: “Prior to the show, it was decided “twenty ten” was the easiest way to pronounce the year. It was not breaking any rules to say it in an alternative way.”