Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007

We didn't say it that way in the US when I was a boy. We said "the
nineteenth century", not "the 1800s". I can't remember ever saying
things like "the 1800s" or "the 1810s". The "1820s, "1830s", etc., yes,
however.

On 16 Jan 2007,  wrote

I didn't start it, but I'll raise my hand as an enthusiastically
guilty party.

When I first started working with historic buildings, I found the
use of the "Xth century" momentarily confusing for anything earlier
than about the 17th or 18th.  My initial reaction on reading "a
13th-century house" was invariably to think of the 1300s, and I had
to stop and recalculate to get the correct century.

In architectural and art history, though, I'd encountered the
Italian use of "-cento" -- cinquecento means 1500s, not 15th
century -- and considered that to be a greatly superior convention
since it didn't require a mental shifting of gears to translate
"16th century" to "15xx".

In a few reports I then started using the cardinals rather than
ordinals, and the response was invariably positive:  it turned out
that large numbers of my clients were also doing the "Xth-one"
calculation each time they came across a century name, and they
were grateful that I'd largely abandoned it.

So whilst I'm sorry it irritates you, I'll continue to use the form
that I've been told involves less rather than more mental stumbling
over the meaning of the text.

Mike Harvey:

I, on the other hand, don't remember ever encountering that
interpretation before the 1990s, when people started asking "what
are we ever going to call the next decade?" -- and the fact that
they had to ask should tell you that "the 2000s" was not considered
a possible answer.

I wonder if Mike might have picked this up from a particular teacher
(one more enamored of consistency than communication, say) without
realizing that it was nonstandard.

Like Mark Brader, I have no memory of that. It could have happened
somewhere.

I wish the Google Book search was a little better for publication dates,
but it indicates fairly numerous hits for these ranges:

 "eighteen hundreds"  dates 1900-1950     55  

 1800's               dates 1900-1950    628

 1800s                dates 1900-1950    211

Those with good memories will recall that the plural form with the
apostrophe was the US standard in that era for numbers.

Some examples of those hits:

    The Teaching of English in the High School - Page 49
    by Clarence Stratton - 1923  
    The localization of the short story in modern times does not mean
    that there were none before the eighteen hundreds.

    Lake Pontchartrain - Page 122
    by Walter Adolphe Roberts - 1946  
    In 1931 children playing on Shell Beach, Lake Borgne, picked up
    coins dated in the early 1800's, of Spanish and United States
    mintage, ...
     
     
    Science & Society - Page 519
    by EbscoHost, Bernhard Joseph Stern - 1936
    The factors making for the many revolts of the 1790s and the early
    1800s, the depression and ...
     
     

The mike.j.harvey@gmail.com entity posted thusly:

To this Canadian, "the 1800s" means either the century (anything
between 1800 and 1899, inclusive), or the decade, depending on
context. If I hear it, and it's ambiguous, I'll ask for clarification.
If I say it, and think it will be ambiguous, I'll clarify it.

I don't think it will be ambiguous for "the 2000s" for at least half a
century from now.

I've always known "the 1800s" to mean 1800-1899; the "19th century" to mean
1801-1900. I'm from the US.