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Let's consider the first decade of this new century. Despite the attempts of many of us who sounded the alarm in 1998 and '99, we still don't have a working title for this span. Think of what you'd say about a slightly dated trend, like the Internet IPO explosion: That's s-o-o-o '90s. O.K., so what about the newest It-things: lightweight scooters, survival TV shows, Eminem: They're s-o-o-o '00s. How do you pronounce that? No one even tries.

Has anyone coined a term that's actually catching on? The only phrase for the decade that seems to have any traction is "the start of the 21st century." Catchy.

Is it possible that this inarticulation portends the decay of civilization? I hope not, because I just downloaded a bunch of cool stuff on my Palm Pilot. (That device, too, is a minefield. What am I when I use it? A user? A pilot? A Palm-enabled person?)

Someone, please, come to our rescue. Any neo-Confucians out there?

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