Why do Americans do the date differently?

[WanderingFool]

IDK, Im still wondering why we dont use the more simple Metric system.

please explain an example of a metric date system please

Im talking about measurement of distance, not time.

 

[tkioz]

I'd say it's likely parallel development, similar to how some countries drive on the right and others on the left, when the road rules were being written they just picked one, and didn't bother to see how it was done in other countries.

Writing a date as a set of numbers only is fairly new in the western world, I think, almost all of the old documents I've seen were written like 1st of January 1778

Yes it can be bloody annoying, but we honestly can't expect them adapt the system to suit us, both ways of writing it, even if you wanted to go yyyy/mm/dd it could work as well, are valid. It's not like the metric system where everyone knows it's retarded they haven't adopted it.

 

[Merkavar]

IDK, Im still wondering why we dont use the more simple Metric system.

please explain an example of a metric date system please

Im talking about measurement of distance, not time.

oh ok that make more sense. its just everyone else is talking about time then you mention metric system. so i assumed metric time

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

Because we feel like it.

Does it really matter?

As a person from "rest of the world" trying to apply to American Colleges: Yes, it does matter.
In fact it's ANNOYING! America (not you or any other specific american) needs to grow up and stop trying to be different from my fair land of "everywhere else on the planet" in pathetic ways.

I'm sorry if this comment seems derogatory and troll-ish..... but it really is pretty damn Annoying to have to print stuff twice just cause you "got the date wrong".

 

[high_castle]

Does it really matter? Lots of countries have their own way of doing or measuring certain things. To laud one system above another in this instance is just an example of ethnocentrism. I've traveled internationally for business, the differences like these might be jarring at first, but eventually you get used to them. If you're talking to someone from Britain and you need the date, you learn they're putting the day first. If you're talking with someone from American, the month goes first.

Adapt, accept it, move on. There are far better things we could be arguing about.

 

[Wes1180]

Day Month Year is also in alphabetical order, D-M-Y
I prefer dd/mm/yyyy myself

 

[C95J]

Smallest variety in measurement first, I guess. Only 12 months, but up to 31 days and at least 2011 years

This makes a lot of sense actually and makes me think that our dates are the wrong way round

 

[Squidden]

I don't see why it's such a problem that America likes to change small trivial things about it (i.e. the dates, roads and spelling of certain words) to most of you people.

 

[NicoDK]

Just to piss off everyone. Some sites in english does the date like we do but others don't so i never know what date they mean with 6/3 or 4/7 etc etc.

 

[moose_man]

I do it y/m/d, so suck on THAT!


I'm sorry.

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

11/17/95. 11 is November, and there's thirty Novembers a year.

.......what? "there's thirty November's a year"? really? My Mind = Blown.

I get what you mean in that sentence btw; but just look at it objectively and you get the most retarded statement ever.....of all time. XD

 

[natster43]

Because we like to be different from England is my best guess. Just like us not using the Metric System.

 

[Tenky]

I can ask another

Say... why is the US the only country in the world still using bland un-colored money?

 

[Agayek]

Can some American escapists tell me why you guys do the date like this : month/day/year
instead of in order like this: day/month/year?
(I would have just google'd this but its better to get a wider range of answers and I wouldn't know how to phrase the question)

Because we as Americans are contrary. If someone (especially a European) says their way is better, we'll do it differently just because we can.

 

[Agayek]

I can ask another

Say... why is the US the only country in the world still using bland un-colored money?

Because it's better than the Monopoly money most countries use nowadays.

 

[Sindre1]

I do it y/m/d, so suck on THAT!

MOOSE_MAAAAAN!!! *shakes fist*

 

[Nomanslander]

Some things are the way they are because it's pointless to think what the difference would be.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

I've always thought it was gradually getting more specific. Take the date November 17th 1995.

November isn't helpful, there have been thousands of days in November. Neither is November 17th, there's been lots of those, too. November 17th 1995, though, there's only one of them.

not sure what you mean. that date has always(long time atleast) consisted of a day month and year, how is it getting more specific?

were not using starday 2011.25 or anything

I don't mean more specific then the other way, I mean as a progression, from left to right.

11/17/95. 11 is November, and there's thirty Novembers a year. Since the invention of the modern calendar, there's been thousands of days in November. 17 is the day in November. There's only 12 17ths a year, and only one November 17th. Over the course of time, there's still a lot of them, but not as many as in November, if this still makes sense.

And then there's the year. 1995. There's only going to be 365 days in that year, ever. It's the most specific.

I'll explain it to you too. It's going from left to right, getting more specific.

By your logic that makes the time here 58:14.

No, because I never said this applied to time. I also never said this was the best way, I said it's the only justification I can think of as to why we do this.

I'll explain it to you too. It's going from left to right, getting more specific.

No. No that's just silly.

Day < Month < Year

That's how it should be. That makes the most sense. Besides;

So it's the 5th. Cool. Well that's not specific... there are 12 5ths in a year. The 5th of what? Oh right, the 5th of November. Cool. So there have been 2010 of those in the calendar we all use. Interesting. Oh right, it was the 1999th 5th of November. Cool.

5th November, 1999

See?

Again, I never said it was better. I'm just saying that this is possibly a justification for the way it is.

I've always thought it was gradually getting more specific. Take the date November 17th 1995.

November isn't helpful, there have been thousands of days in November. Neither is November 17th, there's been lots of those, too. November 17th 1995, though, there's only one of them.

not sure what you mean. that date has always(long time atleast) consisted of a day month and year, how is it getting more specific?

were not using starday 2011.25 or anything

I don't mean more specific then the other way, I mean as a progression, from left to right.

11/17/95. 11 is November, and there's thirty Novembers a year. Since the invention of the modern calendar, there's been thousands of days in November. 17 is the day in November. There's only 12 17ths a year, and only one November 17th. Over the course of time, there's still a lot of them, but not as many as in November, if this still makes sense.

And then there's the year. 1995. There's only going to be 365 days in that year, ever. It's the most specific.

I'll explain it to you too. It's going from left to right, getting more specific.

17/11/95

17 is the days, there are 12 days that are the 17th in a year, 11 is november, there are 30 days that are novembers in a year. 95 is the year there are 365 days in the year that are 95

so using your example i still prefer normal date system where its goes from smallest to biggest.

and no matter what order the date format with each step it gets more specific 17th could be in any month or year. 17/11 one specific month. but lets say that the date goes day then year

17/95 its more specific cause its one day of any month in 1995.

anyway enough gibberish

this pretty much sums it up

This argument is going to go nowhere, because I think we're all trying to restrain ourselves from saying "Because it seems natural, damn it!". We were brought up to say it a certain way, and that's the way we're going to say it. Neither way is actually better, one is just more common.

So there. Have your "Go America!" picture, have your date system. I'll have my date system, and I'll just make jokes about England just being mad that they lost all their colonies. Compromise?

 

[Sindre1]

Can some American escapists tell me why you guys do the date like this : month/day/year
instead of in order like this: day/month/year?
(I would have just google'd this but its better to get a wider range of answers and I wouldn't know how to phrase the question)

Because we as Americans are contrary. If someone (especially a European) says their way is better, we'll do it differently just because we can.

Like some sort of child?
We can ALL do it differently.
We just chose not to -.-

There has to be a real reason for it.

 

[MrEnigami]

So there. Have your "Go America!" picture, have your date system. I'll have my date system, and I'll just make jokes about England just being mad that they lost all their colonies. Compromise?

We didn't lose them really... we gave them back. Just as silly, if I'm honest. Haha