|
Hey! You just gave the exact definition of a decade. You should write dictionaries. Yes, a decade is any period of time ten years long. Just as a year (in our definition, other cultures have other definitions) is any period of time 365 (with some exceptions) days long.
Culturally, we decide which specific years we want to celebrate, out of all the infinite ones we could celebrate. For years we celebrate at 12:00am January 1 the previous 365 days. For decades we celebrate at the end of years ending in 9.
So, despite your eye rolling, I'm glad you finally have come around.
Let's go to the Random House Dictionary for those meanings of the word decade involving years:
1. a period of ten years: the three decades from 1776 to 1806.
2. a period of ten years beginning with a year whose last digit is zero: the decade of the 1980s.
Mirriam-Webster help out your argument at all? Nope:
1a: a period of ten years.
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language:
1: a period of ten years.
From that bastion of all things truthy, Wikipedia:
"Although any period of ten years is a decade, a convenient and frequently referenced interval is based on the tens digit of the calendar year, as in using 1960s to represent the decade from 1960 to 1969."
Let's go to linguistic usage:
If on October 23, 2006 I had said "In the last decade the Oakland Athletics won 912 games." Would you assume I meant they won 912 games between January 1, 1991 and December 31, 2000 (which was the last decade using your definition)? No, you'd correctly interpret that to mean they won 912 games between October 24, 1996 and October 23, 2006. Because a "decade" is any consecutive ten year period.
Your turn. I assume this time you'll just have a rolly-eyes and a frowny face and maybe a fez hat left in your arsenal.
|