I thought of a year 2000 joke in the middle of the night:

Which nation will be the most relieved for the millenium to change?

The French. They will be able to say 2000 instead of 1999.

[my spelling may be wrong but]

in French 1999 is seven words long.

( mille neuf cent quatre vent dix neuf :

thousand nine hundred four twenty('s) ten nine)

vs.

(deux mille :

two thousand)

2000 is a compact two.

[I have never understood why the french can't count beyond 70.]