Americans are WRONG on date format?

Question

Americans are WRONG on date format?

Answer 1

Knock knock joke to play on an American:



'Knock, knock!"

"Who's there?"

"The metric system"

Answer 2

Yeah, with the North American system, you start in the middle, backstep to the beginning, then leap-frog to the end. It frustrates the hell out of me. There's one particular site that I visit on a regular basis where they use that system. It's confusing & instead of having a quick look, I have to look, think and translate!



I hate the North American way of spelling too. Colour without an 'u' in it? One universal system is far better than each individual nation having their own method



When was the terrorist attack on the twin towers? The 9th of November 2001?



I also hate it when I'm watching an American TV show and the narrator will start with the month, followed by the date followed by the year



I suppose the best system is the one which is gradually coming into use: The year, followed by the month followed by the date (2011/08/25). That way, the digit on the right changes the most often, and the digit on the left changes the least often, rather like the mileometer on a car

Answer 3

Actually the standard usage around the world is the ISO 8601 which would be written like so

yyyy -mm-dd.



It is not only in America but it does deal with how we say our dates Americans say it is August first while British say is by the day I guess it just one way the US used to rebel against Britain at the time.

Answer 4

Yes it's annoying because some of them started to use the European standard (in our company). So it's sometimes very difficult to know what they mean, e.g. 11/8/7??? 7th August 11 or 8th July 11?



It's a nuisance with emails when they change the setting so you still don't know even you have it on print. Silly.

Answer 5

Technically, you are also wrong when it comes to most programming language standards. You got it backwards. It's not day > month > year. It's year > month > day, i.e. 2011-1-11.



As for the american practice of writing down a date, it's just one of those things that stick around, because it's just not worth it to change protocol. I assume it continues in use because usually the year isn't important unless absolutely necessary. I can say "five eight" out loud in context and people can just assume I'm talking about the current year. Another thing that happens is that dates can refer to iconic events, so you can just say nine eleven.



So, the concept is that the year is a lengthier time period, and thus comes last to nail down an exact date out of convenience. Also, americans (at least none that I've met) don't write 11/1/11, they spell it out 11/1/2011 so it's clear where the year is. Plus, your example 11.01.11... umm, how do I know what millennium, or for that matter, what century you're talking about?

Answer 6

Call them up and tell them.

Answer 7

Writer B: I would, and usually do say 1st of November, not November 1st.



And do you really think our money is funny? If so you are 40 yrs out of date. (it was, of course, completely ridiculous!)

Answer 8

America Date Format

Answer 9

You are right that the mm.dd.yyyy is daft and irrational. The best format, and one which is used to stored dates on computer databases because it can be sorted correctly is yyyy.mm.dd. It is used by some Asian countries because they have used it for millenia.



The British way of dd.mm.yyyy is not ideal but at least it is intuitive. The month and year go together, as in the Old Testament, e.g. Neh 2:1, "And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king,...". Not detached from the year by the intervening day.

Answer 10

Yes, and most Americans I know think our system is more logical, but why ask a question just to provoke an argument? does it really matter. We drive on the wrong side of the road, but it's our choice to do this and as a result pay more for our cars - life is anything but logical.



BTW Gman if someone asked me the date I would say 25th August it's definately not old english you say tomato ;-)

Answer 11

But tell me this: If I want to talk about November 1, 2011, I would say it exactly that way, wouldn't I? I'd say "November," then "first," then "2011." Translating that to numbers, I'd say "11 (November, the 11th month)", then "1" (first), and then 2011 (the year). Never, ever would I walk up to you and talk about something happening on First November, 2011. So when you put them in numerical sequence, it isn't in sync with the way we speak.



Besides, the English also have weird money, like pounds and quids and shillings and farthings. Americans have a dollar, which is made up of 100 cents. Nice and orderly.

Answer 12

"11.01.11 = 11th of January 2011."



The logic is good, although you need to use the word "of" when explaining that. Okay, so what about 10:30 a.m. on that day?



"30:10, a.m. 11/1/2011"



Not so simple now is it?! Also, how is 11/1/2011 sensible? In the year 2011, we put the larger, thousand place holder first. Shouldn't we use that formality for the day and month. Should it really be: 2011/01/11, a.m. 10:30.



From big to small. That's what we do in the US, but we put the year at the end, since often you you don't need the year.



These systems of time-keeping are not so much logical as convenient, standard and understood. And going from one culture to another always has it's peculiarities.

Answer 13

A unified world language would fix everything, but until we get that, we'll have to make due with the inconsistencies of the metric versus the standard measurements, Celsius vs F., and the various long list of words that are completely different words depending on if you are a scientific geologist, a physicist, a psychologist, or a biologist or chemist, or MD, because everyone has to call stuff by different lexical terms.



Well, the bright side is that once we're all caught up with each other on that whole world language thing, the world will change again, aannnd Jesus will come back. Yaye world domination! =D

Answer 14

It bugs me, yes, and it's infuriating because I'm British and used to using the 'proper' format haha. The thing is, it's only the internet that compounds the issue; in real life I generally know when someone is American and so can assume they're using their format, but on the net it's often impossible to tell. It's even worse when you're on a supposedly UK version of a site and yet it still uses the American format. Or when I want to watch something like a trailer for an 18 rated film and have to input my date of birth, then it tells me it's wrong...

Answer 15

Obviously not all people naturally want the day first. You have way too much time on your hands M

Answer 16

Suggest a resolution be put to the UN to bring all countries into line.

Answer 17

No, actually month-day-year is more logical than day-month-year.. as it provides better, if still ineffective, sorting principles. Neither is actually logical though, that requires year-month-day, the only format that allows direct chronological sorting.



You fail.

Answer 18

actually it makes more sense because if somebody asks you what the date is, you would say "August 25, 2011" (8/25/2011). unless u speak old english, u probably wouldnt say "the 25th of August, 2011" (25/8/2011).

Answer 19

I agree - it infuriates me. Typical US - but luckily their standard isn't worldwide!