My New Year’s Resolution [PHIL-OSOPHY]

OMG! I thought they were going to run me out of town Monday morning when in a calm, cool and collected way I reminded listeners that we'd be saying ta-ta and cheerio to the decade at midnight, January 1, 2020.

Scarcely a minute passed when an early-morning caller was chastising me, saying it wasn't the end of the decade for another year.

Technically, the fault-finder was correct. I say technically, because I know there's been a lot of debate about when the old decade ends and the new one begins.

To some, like me, this decade ends on December 31, 2019, and the start of the new one begins January 1, 2020. For others, the new decade doesn't start until January 1, 2021; the old one concluding on December 31, 2020.

But which is correct?

Well, don't scold me. If you want to criticize anybody for this confusion, you can point the finger of blame at two men: Dionysius Exiguus, also known as "Dennis the Short," and the Northumbrian monk Bede, nicknamed "Venerable Bede." Neither of these two were 100 percent accurate and it is quite confusing to go back and forth between Caesar Augustus' reign and the year 470, when Dennis the Short first suggested counting the passage of years from the date of the birth of Jesus Christ. Religious historians still disagree about that year.

Anyway, I'm making my New Year's resolution here and now: I resolve to insist that decades close with the final day of the year ending in 9, as in December 31, 2019, and the new decade begins with 0, as in January 1, 2020. Are you with me?

Happy New Year!

Phil Paleologos is the host of The Phil Paleologos Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Contact him at phil@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @PhilPaleologos. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.