Imagine we are traveling through time, crossing a whole decade and ending in a whole new century. It is the year 2100, and we are at the dawn of the 22nd century.
Yes, that’s what’s coming: the 22nd century. All its years will* begin with 21, extending to the distant year 2199. And as we all know, we are now in the 21st century, but the years start with 20. And in the 20th century, they all start with 19, and on the 19th, with 18, etc.
Please do not spoilers 22nd century.
It can be hard to remember this, especially when you go back a few hundred years, that’s why we sometimes see people using, say, 16th century (should refer to years starting with 15) when they really mean the 1600swhich explicitly refers to the years starting with 16.
We also sometimes see people confusing the “hundreds” form with the “century” form, which refers to a date like 1528 occurring in the “1600s”. To be clear, 1528 is a card-bearing member of the 1500s And 16th century.
The thing to remember is that the number in the name of the century (e.g. 16th century) is always one number higher than the number that begins the years of the century: the years of the 16th century begin with 15.
There is logic behind it, of course. The first century of the current era (also called the first century AD or AD) does not begin with 100; it starts with 1 (more on what that means below). It was not until the second century, aka the 2nd century, that the year had a single digit in the hundreds column: the year 150 was a century and a half into the new era, placing it in the middle of the 2nd century. .
ADVERTISEMENT (also spelled A.D.), by the way, stands for “anno Domini,” which is Medieval Latin for “in the year of our Lord.” It is used to indicate that a year, century, etc., falls within the Christian era—that is, the length of time since the birth of Christ. ADVERTISEMENT contrast with B.C (also in BC style), meaning “before Christ.” CE And BC (both are also sometimes styled with dots) is also used for ADVERTISEMENT And B.Crespectively, because they allow for secular shading. CE can mean “Common Era” or “Christian Era”; BC can mean “BC” or “BC.”
*But back to the implications we mentioned above: do the years of the 22nd century really start with 21? It depends on who you ask. Some have suggested that the 22nd century will begin on January 1, 2100 and end on December 31, 2199, with the 23rd century beginning on January 1, 2200. But there is a long history. about those who insist that this is completely false for mathematical reasons: a century is by definition 100 years long, and the first century begins on January 1, 199, that is, when December 31 99 years have passed, only 99 years have passed; therefore, the first century of the current millennium does not actually end until December 31, 100, and the second does not begin until January 1, 101.
This topic proved to be a nuisance, especially at the turn of the century, beginning in the late 17th century, according to a Ruth S. Freitag Library of Congress article entitled “The Battle of the Centuries. “. There seems to have been quite a bit of fuss on the Continent on the matter in the late 1600s, and the British got in on the next round:
We have unanimously rejected all letters and rejected all discussion on the question of when will the current century end? because it is one of the most absurd things that can attract public attention, and we are surprised to see that it has been the subject of so much controversy, because it seems so simple. The current century won’t end until January 1, 1801, unless 99 can be distinguished by 100. Eighteen centuries is 1800 years, how could 18 centuries be complete until five? 1800 ended? What is the meaning of a century, but is a series of 100 years clearly distinct? How can 100 be completed by 99? — Time (London), December 26, 1799
For the same audience but two hundred years later, things have changed:
The world has voted with its checkbook in the debate about when exactly the millennium will end. While the prowlers continued to mine on December 31, 1999, compared with the end of 2000, it seems that everyone, no matter who, chose an earlier date as the date to celebrate what they hoped for. Hope will be the mother of all parties. — Time (London), April 2, 1991
Freitag noted that the 1991 article went on to “report that a hotel, whose construction work has not yet commenced, was fully booked for that date, and indicated that flying Concorde westward would help those who wish to fly Concorde westward.” Happy New Year in a few days.” Cities are widely separated.”
We expect there will be a new debate on this in the late 2000s and will not consider it during that time.
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
