I heard your interview on KMOX radio in St. Louis.  I thoroughly enjoyed your perspective.  I would like to ask if you can settle a question that my husband and I debate.  Which is correct:  when something happens quickly, is it "all of a sudden" or "all the sudden" ?  This is a pet peeve of mine (along with a few other similar phrases).  It really is not that difficult to use proper, decent grammar...why can't people do this simple thing?!
 

Tom, Here is a letter that I sent to my local papers in Georgia. I have thought about this for the past ten years and probably should have written it sooner. It's good to find a sympathetic soul! -Steve
Now that it’s 2010, let us resolve to save a syllable by pronouncing the year as "twenty ten" instead of "two thousand ten."
I am in the minority of people who called last year "twenty oh-nine." Why is that? A century ago, the year was called "nineteen oh-nine," not "one thousand nine hundred and nine." And if you think the round number makes a difference, what about the year 1066? If you paid attention in school, you will recall that the Battle of Hastings was fought in "ten sixty-six." Nobody calls it "one thousand sixty-six." I blame this on a number of things. First of all, if that famous movie had been named "Twenty Oh-One, a Space Odyssey," then more people would have pronounced it that way. Also, prior to 1998 or so the banks used to insert the number 19, followed by a line for the year, on all checks. They stopped that during the millennial transition but didn't resume printing "20" after the century had safely turned. I suppose they think some people may keep their checks for more than 90 years. So, Happy Twenty Ten! There is no telling how much time you can save without that extra syllable. Steve Allen <steve@eggXX> 01/02/10