I was born in 1946, not one-thousand-nine-hundred-and-forty-six!

It seems that, although for the last 1000 years, or more, we have spoken the year date as two numbers - e.g. 19 99 - the moment the millennium clock struck midnight, and the year 2000 arrived, everyone started speaking the year date as "two-thousand-and..."

Even twelve years into the new millennium, most of the media presenters, and the all-and-sundries on TV and Radio still continue to speak of "two-thousand-and-twelve". Why???

This year is the two-hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo in 1812... sorry, how did you just read that date in your mind? Did you read it as eighteen-twelve, or as one-thousand-eight-hundred-and-twelve? This year is also the one-hundredth anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912... or did you read that as one-thousand-nine-hundred-and-twelve?

So why does everyone still insist on saying two-thousand-and-twelve?! Let's start saying it as we've said it for the last thousand years... this year is twenty-twelve (20 12). And next year is twenty-thirteen (20 13). "Simples!" as a certain meerkat might say!