decade
In common conversation, "decade" almost always refers to a ten-year period of time. It is most often used as a countable noun (e.g., "two decades"). When referring to specific eras, people often use the word "the" followed by the decade name, such as "the eighties," though this describes the span of years rather than the unit of measurement itself.
💬Casual Conversation
🎬Tuesday afternoon, Karen is organizing the PTA calendar while Eleanor is browsing Facebook.
Eleanor Smith
KAREN LOOK AT THIS OLD PHOTO OF DAVID. IT FEELS LIKE A DECADE AGO.
Karen Smith
It was literally five years ago, Eleanor. Stop stirring the pot.
💡
Eleanor is using 'decade' hyperbolically to describe a period of time that felt longer than it actually was. Karen responds with the idiom 'stirring the pot', meaning to intentionally cause trouble or provoke an emotional reaction by bringing up the past.