I have to mention the elephant in the room - how you, kragen, habitually write e.g. "01888" when "1888" will do — you "choose a polysyllabic and fuzzy word when a simple and clear one is better".
>>dredmo+u7
Regardless of what it's for, writing 5 digit years is the kind of choice that makes your writing "ooze pretentiousness" just like choosing to use hundred dollar words last seen a century ago.
>>Anon10+59
Nah. It's a little conceit. It's a small dash of eccentricity to add spice to an unusual point. It invites one to ask the question, "why do you habitually use 5 digit years?"
You, on the other hand, are veering directly into ad-hom and that's not nice. We can talk about how we like to use language without calling out other peoples' language choices.