Y2K
Millennial computer scare
Y2K refers to the year 2000 and the widespread concern that computer systems would malfunction when the calendar rolled over from 1999.
Early programmers had used two digits for years, so computers might interpret "00" as 1900.
The anticipated Y2K bug prompted massive remediation efforts, and the feared catastrophe largely didn't materialize.
The term now evokes late-90s anxiety and, in fashion, the aesthetic of that era: Y2K style.
Programmable electronic devices
- softwarePrograms directing computer operations
- COBOLElderly business-oriented programming language
- mainframeLarge centralized computer system
- legacy systemsOutdated but essential technology
patches · updates · debugging · compliance · glitch · date format · midnight · rollover
Prophesied world's end
- apocalypseTotal civilizational collapse
- hysteriaUncontrollable emotional excess
- fearEmotional response to threat
- hoardingExcessive accumulation of goods
preppers · survivalism · alarmism · anxiety · meltdown · collapse · paranoia · stockpiling
Festive event marking occasion
- Times SquareFamous Manhattan intersection
- fireworksExplosive light displays
- champagneEffervescent celebratory wine
- countdownBackward enumeration to zero
party · turn-of-the-century · new era · optimism · ball drop · concerts · commemorations · midnight kiss
Current popular trend
- retrofuturismNostalgia for bygone futures
- silverLustrous white precious metal
- metallicResembling ore-based elements
- holographicMade of light interference patterns
low-rise jeans · butterfly clips · frosted tips · cyber · chrome · iridescent · PVC · platform shoes
computers
Programmable electronic devices
- softwarePrograms directing computer operations
- COBOLElderly business-oriented programming language
- mainframeLarge centralized computer system
legacy systems · patches · updates · debugging · compliance · glitch · date format · midnight · rollover · crash
doomsday
Prophesied world's end
- apocalypseTotal civilizational collapse
- hysteriaUncontrollable emotional excess
- fearEmotional response to threat
hoarding · preppers · survivalism · alarmism · anxiety · meltdown · collapse · paranoia · stockpiling · bunkers
celebration
Festive event marking occasion
- Times SquareFamous Manhattan intersection
- fireworksExplosive light displays
- champagneEffervescent celebratory wine
countdown · party · turn-of-the-century · new era · optimism · ball drop · concerts · commemorations · midnight kiss · 1999
fashion
Current popular trend
- retrofuturismNostalgia for bygone futures
- silverLustrous white precious metal
- metallicResembling ore-based elements
holographic · low-rise jeans · butterfly clips · frosted tips · cyber · chrome · iridescent · PVC · platform shoes · glitter
- 1990sMonica Lewinsky, impeachment, NAFTA, Whitewater, Oklahoma City bombing
- calendar quirksleap day, intercalation, Metonic cycle, precession, Julian calendar
- Year 2000 technology problemmillennium bug, date format, COBOL, legacy systems, mainframe
- millennium phrasesmillennium bug
- 20th CenturyWorld War I aftermath, Cuban Missile Crisis, atomic bomb, New Deal, Nazi Germany
- 2000siPhone, Wii, MySpace, YouTube, Hurricane Katrina
Y2K9/11
2001 terrorist attacks
Chernobyl · Fukushima · Hurricane Katrina · Great Depression · World War II
Y2Kmoon landing
Craft settling on satellite
iPhone launch · tech boom · technological progress · information age · World Wide Web
- Y2K bugDate-coding software flaw