Editing 2249: I Love the 20s

{{comic
| number    = 2249
| date      = January 1, 2020
| title     = I Love the 20s
| image     = i love the 20s.png
| titletext = Billboard's "Best of the 80s" chart includes Blondie's 1980 hit "Call Me." QED.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a PEDANT. Explain title text.}}
This comic was released on the first day of {{w|2020}}. It was the second of two [[:Category:New Year|New Year comics]] around the 2019-2020 New Year.

[[Megan]], [[Cueball]], and [[Ponytail]] are all happy for the beginning of the new {{w|decade}}, from 2020-2029, for a variety of reasons, but [[White Hat]] has objections to this beginning of a new decade.

It begins with Megan wishing happy new decade and Ponytail naming it the {{w|2020s|'20s}}. At this point White Hat tries to get in with an objection to this, but he is interrupted twice before he can make his point.

First Ponytail is exited that decades have "easy names" again. Decades such as the {{w|1960s}} or {{w|1970s}} had easy "names" - '60s, '70s, etc. The {{w|2000s_(decade)|2000s}} were {{w|2000s_(decade)#Name_for_the_decade|sometimes}} named the "{{w|Aughts}}" and the {{w|2010s}} the "Teens", names that did not enter popular usage, but we can return to the shortened decades name with the '20s decade.

Then she continues to discus cultural trends and Cueball chimes in. In decades before the 2000s, trends were named for the decade in which its members reached adulthood / teenage years, e.g. a trend from the '90s. After 2000, many trends have been labeled with the "{{w|millennials}}" term, which refers to an entire generation who grew up in the 2000s. Cueball and Ponytail hope that trends will not be labeled as "millennial" or by generations in this new decade. This phenomenon was previously discussed in [[1849: Decades]]. Millennials have also been mentioned in [[1962: Generations]] and in [[2165: Millennials]].

The main point of the comic, however, is White Hat's claim that the new decade does not start until 2021. Ponytail claims that he is pedantic but in that case he should at least be right... Of course both sides believe they are correct. White Hat's argument appears to be analogous to the point often made at the turn of the millennium, which is that, because the Gregorian calendar doesn't include a year 0, the first century started in year 1, the second century began in the year 101, and so forth, so the 21st century didn't begin until the start of 2001. Nevertheless, most people was celebrating the shift from 19 to 20, as the first two numbers in the year, much more than they did the next year when the new millennium officially began. 

Ponytail retorts that decades aren't numbered cardinally: any set of ten years constitutes a decade.  While the 203rd decade of the Common Era doesn't begin until 2021, "the twenties" refers to all years that include a "twenty". White Hat appears not to accept this argument, insisting that that Ponytail doesn't "get it", he even wish to draw her a diagram which makes Ponytail interrupt again to respond in kind.

At this point Megan stops their heated argument claiming she can resolve this. She then states that {{w|MC Hammer}}'s song ''{{w|U Can't Touch This}}'', released in 1990, was featured in a 1990s-themed television show ({{w|I Love the '90s (American TV series)|''I Love the '90s''}}) instead of its 1980s-themed counterpart. Ponytail then claims that this settles the discussion. And White Hat throws in the towel stating that he accept VH1's authority and lets Ponytail win. This comment can be read in two ways: Sarcastic ("VH1 is a random pop culture organization with no expert knowledge, you have presented a poor argument") or legitimate ("I accept VH1 as a legitimate authority and defer to them," which would be humorous because VH1 is a random pop culture organization with no expert knowledge of the calendar). {{w|VH1}} is the parent company of MTV, a cable TV channel known for grouping music by decades.

However, reading the Wikipedia page on Decade it is clear that neither White Hat nor Ponytail can claim to be correct. There is not consensus about what a decade should mean regarding 2021-2030 vs 2020-2029. On the other hand saying the '20s is much clearer defined as those years with two thousand and twenty something. But that was not what Megan was saying. Ponytail on the other hand uses that version.

Perhaps [[Randall]] may be concerned that a single datum-point is not sufficient proof, so in the title text he continues this theme with a hit song from 1980 grouped with the 1980s, not the 1970s. In this case it is {{w|Blondie (band)|Blondie's}} 1980 hit "{{w|Call Me (Blondie song)|Call Me}}" which is featured in {{w|Billboard (magazine)|Billboard's}} chart [https://www.billboard.com/charts/greatest-billboards-top-songs-80s Best of the 80s].

The title text ends with {{w|Q.E.D.|QED}}, quod erat demonstrandum", literally meaning "what was to be shown, traditionally used at the end of a mathematical proof to mean "thus it has been demonstrated", as if this second landmark piece of evidence sufficiently proves Megan's point beyond a doubt, as conclusive as a mathematical proof.

==Transcript==
:[Megan walks in from the left greeting Cueball, White Hat, and Ponytail standing in a line, the last two looking in her direction.]
:Megan: Happy new decade!
:Ponytail: Welcome to the '20s!
:White Hat: '''''Actually—'''''
:Ponytail: I'm excited we can name decades again. 
:Ponytail: "Aughts" and "teens" never caught on.

:[Megan stops next to Cueball as White Hat has his finger raised.]
:White Hat: Actually, the new decade doesn't start-
:Ponytail: Mostly, I'm just glad we can go back to attributing cultural trends to decades instead of generations.

:[All four just stand normal.]
:Cueball: Yeah.
:Cueball: Decades were silly, but making everything about "millennials" turned out to be even worse.
:Ponytail: Seriously.

:[Only White Hat and Ponytail are shown, both with their arms held out to the sides.]
:White Hat: It's technically not a new decade until '''2021'''.
:Ponytail: OK, listen.
:Ponytail: If you're going to be pedantic, you should at least be right.
:White Hat: I '''''am''''' right!
:Ponytail: You're '''''not'''''.

:[Zoom in on White Hat and Ponytails upper parts as they gesture towards each other both raising their hands palm up. Megan interrupts them from off panel, as made clear in the next panel. Her voice comes out of a star burst on the left panel frame.]
:White Hat: See, the 20<sup>th</sup> century didn't start until--
:Ponytail: But decades aren't centuries. They're not cardinally numbered.
:White Hat: You don't get it. Let me draw a--
:Ponytail: No, '''''you''''' don't--
:Megan (off-panel): Stop!

:[All four characters are displayed again. Megan has raised a finger and all the others look at her.]
:Megan: I can resolve this.
:Megan: *Ahem*
:Megan: MC Hammer's ''U Can't Touch This'' (1990) was featured in '''''I Love the '90s''''', not ''''' '80s'''''.
:Ponytail: ...That settles that.
:White Hat: Yeah, I accept VH1's authority.
:White Hat: You win.

==Trivia==
Traditionally, the First Century starts in year 1 and ends in the year 100, the Second Century starts in the year 101 and runs through the year 200, and so on, because {{w|Zero-based numbering|zero indexing}}, like the number zero itself, was not in wide use at the time. However, due to an error by {{w|Dionysius Exiguus}}, the year 1 was after the death of {{w|Herod the Great}}, so Jesus could not have been born in that year, and was probably born either in 4 B.C. or 6 B.C., so the first, second, etc., century after his birth would actually end in the mid '90's.


{{comic discussion}}
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