|
It's a matter of convention now. Of course, you are absolutely correct in your definition, but what has happened is similar to what happened to the term billion. In the UK it meant 1,000,000,000,000 whereas in the US it meant 1,000,000,000. This was supposed to be a proper definition but in the end, all reference to billion in the Uk eventually changed to the US definition. What has happened here is that so many people think that the new millennium starts in 2000, that despite protests from many people, that it has become generally accepted that the new millennium starts in 2000 and not 2001. Who is right? Well, it would appear that the majority is right now. If a millennium lasts a thousand years then the next millennium will start in 3000 so the definition still stands. We just have to adjust what we thought of as the start of our calendar, which, as we all know is wrong anyway. So why not start again at the year 2000 and proclaim that as a new millennium? Don't fight the trend. |
