As long as we're talking English, and as long as we're trying to be self consistent, there's a few logically straightforward conclusions about pronouncing years.
Firstly, correctness has nothing to do with brevity. If we call it "twenty ten" out of laziness we should at least not fool ourselves about /why/ we're doing that. It's brief and quicker, yes, but that's all.
Secondly this nonsense about "twenty ten" being correct has to stop. As a previous poster said, the year names are indeed numbers, so the correct pronunciation of years is the same as for the numbers.
Thirdly, the Americans have bastardised English in so many subtle ways that it is recognised as a distinct dialect of English, distinct from Commonwealth English. If the Americans want to drop the "AND"s out of the traditionally correct (UK) pronunciation of numbers, then they should not expect us sensible types to go along with their lunacy. It sounds completely awkward to us when we hear yanks say 2009 as "two thousand nine", it just makes us cringe. Really. You'll only take our numbers from our cold dead ANDs.
Happy new year for twenty ten! (I'm lazy but well informed.)
Firstly, correctness has nothing to do with brevity. If we call it "twenty ten" out of laziness we should at least not fool ourselves about /why/ we're doing that. It's brief and quicker, yes, but that's all.
Secondly this nonsense about "twenty ten" being correct has to stop. As a previous poster said, the year names are indeed numbers, so the correct pronunciation of years is the same as for the numbers.
Thirdly, the Americans have bastardised English in so many subtle ways that it is recognised as a distinct dialect of English, distinct from Commonwealth English. If the Americans want to drop the "AND"s out of the traditionally correct (UK) pronunciation of numbers, then they should not expect us sensible types to go along with their lunacy. It sounds completely awkward to us when we hear yanks say 2009 as "two thousand nine", it just makes us cringe. Really.
You'll only take our numbers from our cold dead ANDs.
Happy new year for twenty ten!
(I'm lazy but well informed.)