Discussion»Questions»Random Knowledge» In your mind when the words "At the turn of the century" begin not to mean the early 20th century but only slightly more than 15 years ago?
I sometimes say "turn of the millennium" to mean 2000, but yeah, "turn of the century" meaning 1900 seems a bit dated now, especially to someone born in the 1990s.
I find it amusing to think about how much literature I've read that uses these words and take for granted you know they are referring to the early 20th century.
In 1966 Ausralia switched to decimal currency. It took a while to stop thinking in terms of £sd. The same confusion applied to "turn of the century". I've made the switch and think of it as recent unless there's a reason to go back 100 years.
The date of the article is usually a giveaway but sometimes articles after the year 2000 will slip. If the article is dated 2000 to say 2005 and says turn of the century its either the 20th century or the then now.
Benedict Arnold 