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Y2K

Y2K

8 4.6
The year 2000 when people worried computers would stop working because of a date problem
  • noun
  • /ˌwaɪ tuː keɪ/
translation icon : año 2000
  • In late 1999, companies across various industries scrambled to ensure their systems were ready for Y2K.
  • Y2K year

Examples

  • The Y2K problem worried many businesses, leading them to invest heavily in technology upgrades before the year 2000.

  • Finally, the old system was not year 2000 (Y2K) compliant.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Well, with Y2K, everybody thought that the system was going to crash and the sky would fall.

    Academic text (2000)
  • The euro problem and the Year 2000 (Y2K) problem are closely related.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The company expects its mission-critical systems to be Y2K-compliant by the end of 1998, giving Ford a full year to test all the systems and guarantee their operation.

    Academic text (1997)
  • The Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act (the Y2K Act): Limited liability in civil suits stemming from year 2000 computer failures.

    Academic text (2001)
  • As the year 2000 approached, concerns about the Y2K bug prompted extensive testing of computer systems.

Compounds

Y2K compliant
  • Archaic
1 3.9

Able to handle dates around the year 2000 correctly

Surface Forms

Y2K singular
Y2Ks plural

Etymology

Y2K is short for Y 'year' and 2K '2000', where the K stands for 'thousand', like in '5K' races. It became the common name for worries about computer programs when the date moved from 1999 to 2000, often called the 'millennium bug', so Y2K refers to the year 2000 and those computer problems.