Why do Americans do the date differently?

[Blindrooster]

They enjoy making things feel like their own. They do it with language too. Make minor changes so they can feel like they're not just copying a country most of them see as their own personal ***** nation.

Who? China?

 

[88chaz88]

We just do. And to send it right back at ya, why do all of you Europeans and Asians drive on the left side of the road, huh? That's so silly.

Nah, just England and Japan. Two isolated islands. =P

Actually driving on the left was how it was done originally. It was a system invented by the Romans and the whole of Europe was using it up until Napoleon decided that everyone should drive on the right. So really we're right, you're wrong, again.

 

[Lord Legion]

We do things a bit differently because we have many different cultures and points of perspective colliding in one place. Much of these, "LOL WHY DO AMERICANS: yaddayaddayadda?" subjects are the basis of this fact.

It really doesn't matter does it? It is not like lives are lost over this. This is a pretty mundane little quip.

 

[Atheist.]

I can ask another

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

Actually they appear to be slowly changing that up. Their 10 USD bill has some red and orange hues. Although we're apparently diametrically opposed to change, so it may take a while.

 

[Carlston]

I'm a American and I don't do it like that, matter fact everything I write on a check would look like this

01Jan11 or 01Jan2011

So because some people do it different it's a American thing eh?

 

[Dark_Link]

England isn't isolated, it has a tunnel connecting to France and the Japanese are just awesome

Why do the Americans plan cities and roads in grids and still have traffic issues and why do they have bad drivers when the majority use automatic gearboxes?

 

[CK76]

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".

In Scotland I was born on 1st of July instead of January 7th. In my defense I was on good 80 hours with no sleep during registration, as my zombie ID attested to.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

I think the date system that makes the most sense is year/month/day, that way when you sort multiple years of work automatically it comes up in the right order. Although I'm so used to month/day/year that I often look at my own dates and get confused - 10/10/03? I didn't write anything in 2003!?!

 

[Carlston]

Because we Americans are stupid.

That's not sarcasm; I'm dead fucking serious. Why else would we try to impose our rights and beliefs on other sections of the world? We're a bunch of fucking idiots who ultimately can't stand the fact that there are people who aren't cut from the same cloth.

Ok, clarify...
Name one country and no Sealand doesn't count...

That has NOT tried to impose rights, beliefs ect on other sections of the world. Well imposing rights (freedoms maybe) makes no sense so just beliefs...

Last I checked (shoo Sealand) every country past and present wants everyone to see everything their way, and anyone who says they aren't is living in a dream world to make themselves seem more enlightened.

So America is stupid because we...ahhh...hmmm behave just like every other country in the world? So we act pretty damn normal then? The entire world is stupid... I can drink to that.

 

[superbatranger]

We're just used to it.

 

[Crazy_Dude]

Same thing as with their idiotic metric system.

Why do Americans do this?

Because they can

 

[Lawllerskater]

Just to piss off people like you.

 

[Merkavar]

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?

not really sure what england has to do with any of this since its like most of the world uses dd/mm/yyyy and if they dont use it then they use yyyy/mm/dd.

its like 6 countries including the US that use mm/dd/yyyy


also i havent seen america have an empire that spand the globe, the sun never set on the british empire and all that. so maybe hold off on the britsh losing the empire jokes until the US actually has an empire to lose.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

For the same reason we use different measurements of temperature. Because we're American, goddammit, and we'll do whatever we feel like.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

I imagine its the same reason we don't use Celsius for temperature or your metric system. We wanted to be different from the rest of the world after we gained our independence.

 

[kikon9]

I unno... Um.. We're used to it?

I don't really see how it's a big deal.

 

[dragonburner]

USA! USA! USA!

 

[mr_rubino]

We just do. And to send it right back at ya, why do all of you Europeans and Asians drive on the left side of the road, huh? That's so silly.

Nah, just England and Japan. Two isolated islands. =P

England isn't an island it's a country along with Scotland and Wales that make up the island of great britain which contains numerous small islands as well.

Japan is several thousand islands not just one. I'm not attacking you just letting you know

*sigh* Two isolated archipelagos. Better? They also both have an odd predilection towards calling undergarments "pants".

We just do. And to send it right back at ya, why do all of you Europeans and Asians drive on the left side of the road, huh? That's so silly.

Nah, just England and Japan. Two isolated islands. =P

Actually driving on the left was how it was done originally. It was a system invented by the Romans and the whole of Europe was using it up until Napoleon decided that everyone should drive on the right. So really we're right, you're wrong, again.

Terribly intriguing, old chap, but you haven't clarified what else you're "right" about. Sticking unnatural letters into words and calling it classy certainly isn't "right". (Napoleon, eh? Sure was a looong time ago, wasn't it?)
God bless the Englanders. If they're not adding cosmetic changes to something and retroactively claiming it's correct, or losing half the world in one fell/prolonged swoop, they're keeping traditions the rest of the world gave up and claiming superiority for it. Must be nice to live in a little soap bubble while the rest of the world has to share borders with things.

 

[Azmael Silverlance]

Thats how it was made dozens of years ago and now its just "there". If you do something long enough it just sticks. Imagine it couldve been Y/M/D.

 

[Kanlic]

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)

That trope actually screwed me when I was in Spain this summer. I went to a night club with some friends, and being 18 years old, I thought it wouldn't be a problem. The thing is my license read 2/8/92 which meant February 8, 1992, but he read it as August 2, 1992, so he wouldn't let me in. I was drunk at the time so I pushed him after he wouldn't believe me after I told him that's how it was done in the U.S. and got a right hook in the face for doing so. Good night I must say.