Y2K

[Barnhart]

There is a quotation in The Barnhart Dictionary Companion (Vol. 10.2;
Winter 1998) which shows just this situation.

In case your favorite info-tech professional hasn't cornered you to
lament what's variously known as the Millennium Bug, the Year 2000
Problem or simply "Y2K," a bit of background is in order.  During the
1960s, computer memory was extremely limited and extraordinarily
expensive.  As a result, programmers were forced to economized when
writing software, allocating only a two-digit number for each year's
date. ... What sounds like a simple computer glitch has enormous
business ramifications.  Although the bulk of Y2K foul-ups will occur
in 2000, consumers won't have to wait for the new millennium to witness
the effects.  Most corporations and government entities refuse to talk
openly about Y2k's effect for fear of public embarrassment and mass
hysteria.  But Y2K-induced snafus are already becoming the stuff of
folklore.  According to the Gartner Group, a Stamford, Conn.-based
technology consulting firm, a state correctional facility (Gartner
won't reveal which one) recently released several prisoners by mistake.
 John Simons, "the millennium bug looms," U.S. News & World Report
(Nexis), Feb. 17, 1997, p 54