Why do Americans write their dates down backwards?

The Heik

King of the Nael
Oct 12, 2008
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Furburt said:
I have no idea, but whatever.

Neither side has the 'right' one. Use whichever takes your fancy.

Hell, write it upsidedown is you want.
I do that sometimes, but I get what aps is generally talking about. It usually makes more sense for for the date to go in descending or ascending order to clarify what the numbers represent. In some cases it doesn't really matter though (ie 01/22/99 is pretty easily identified for the 22 of January, 1999)
 

oppp7

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Aug 29, 2009
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I have no idea. It's kinda like the lack of the metric system, only without the actual need for change.
 

The Rogue Wolf

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Personally I prefer the following format: 05Apr10. It's easier to read, less confusing, and understandable pretty much anywhere where they read English.

[small]Plus I'm still a little miffed at Yahtzee because his "birthday" puzzle in "11 Days a Sacrifice" stymied me until I looked up the solution and realized he'd used the British format.[/small]
 

ZeLunarian

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Iron Criterion said:
ZeLunarian said:
Julianking93 said:
Americans do a lot of shit backwards for no apparent reason.

Seriously, why are we the only country that drives on the right side of the road, write dates month, day, year and don't use the metric system?
You're not the only ones who drive on the right :p
I miss miles per hour over here. . . I personally still think in miles. And yes i work in ounces pounds (whys it written lbs? x.x) and im 6'3''... ... But the dates thing is pure unforgivable xD
jk jk~
Isn't driving on the left a throwback from the bygone days of horse and carts, so that your sword arm was always at the ready?
I doubt it because for cars in said countries the driver sits on the opposite side.
I do believe that drivers are always on the side closest to the opposing traffic... Not the best explination xD
 

bobtheconquerer

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Nov 16, 2008
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There's arguments towards the "importance" of writing the date one way or another. It seems kinda arbitrary though.

However, metric has come up a few times so I figure I should answer that question. The United States didn't switch to the metric system because they didn't desperately need it. When metric was invented European measurements were all over the place. A foot could mean a different length from one town to the next. Meanwhile, in the USA the measurements might have been awkward, but at least they were consistent across all the states.

In short, Europe changed to metric because their measuring system was terribly screwed up and not really viable for trade. The USA's measuring system was awkward, but at least everyone knew what was what.
 

DazZ.

Elite Member
Jun 4, 2009
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d3structor said:
It fits phonetically, we speak the date "april 5, 2010" so we write it "04/05/10"
I was going to say that's the first decent response I've seen, until I realised I say "Fifth of April", so I'm guessing people say it how they write it wherever.
Almost though, but most other answers are like this:
Kubanator said:
The month is more valuable then the day. The day can be at 12 different points, while the month is a specific range, thus more precise.
What? It's more valuable? Both a day and a month are specific ranges of time and how is it more precise when a day is the smaller amount?
That just makes no sense at all.
 

LaughingAtlas

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Nov 18, 2009
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TO CONFUSE OUR ENEMIES!! It appears to be working.
Seriously, though, why does NASA count backwards? Why does a river flow as it does?
That may not answer the question, but I'm not sure there is a proper, history class answer.
 

lasherman

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Mar 11, 2009
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Julianking93 said:
Americans do a lot of shit backwards for no apparent reason.

Seriously, why are we the only country that drives on the right side of the road, write dates month, day, year and don't use the metric system?
I'm pretty sure most countries drive on the right.

OT: Yeah, neither way is wrong, they're both just 'different'
 

Iron Criterion

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ZeLunarian said:
Iron Criterion said:
ZeLunarian said:
Julianking93 said:
Americans do a lot of shit backwards for no apparent reason.

Seriously, why are we the only country that drives on the right side of the road, write dates month, day, year and don't use the metric system?
You're not the only ones who drive on the right :p
I miss miles per hour over here. . . I personally still think in miles. And yes i work in ounces pounds (whys it written lbs? x.x) and im 6'3''... ... But the dates thing is pure unforgivable xD
jk jk~
Isn't driving on the left a throwback from the bygone days of horse and carts, so that your sword arm was always at the ready?
I doubt it because for cars in said countries the driver sits on the opposite side.
I do believe that drivers are always on the side closest to the opposing traffic... Not the best explination xD
I was about to concede to your argument but then I found this article proving how right (and brilliant) I am. Enjoy :p

http://users.telenet.be/worldstandards/driving%20on%20the%20left.htm
 

Albino Ninja

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Nov 11, 2007
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Julianking93 said:
Americans do a lot of shit backwards for no apparent reason.

Seriously, why are we the only country that drives on the right side of the road, write dates month, day, year and don't use the metric system?
actually most countries drive down the right side of the road, and the military writes dates down day, month, year; in fact that's how I write mine down. But we should use the metric system, it's just easier.
 

2012 Wont Happen

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Aug 12, 2009
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After the revolution against Britain, Americans sought to differentiate themselves from their old rulers. So, instead of doing anything significant, we just decided to spell words wrong and do our calender stupidly.

That is pretty much the reason.
 

soren7550

Overly Proud New Yorker
Dec 18, 2008
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I could never figure out why America has to be different like that, but then again I could never figure out why everyone else does things I find weird (like having the driver's side on the right and such).

Wait, that didn't help at all.
 

Snarky Username

Elite Member
Apr 4, 2010
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Same reason we don't use the metric system. Because our way is always the right way regardless of how unintuitive or downright silly it is.
 

CWestfall

New member
Apr 16, 2009
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Imagine living in Canada. We always have to write out our dates, because every other person would call today 04/05/10 instead of 05/04/10.
 

MortisLegio

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Nov 5, 2008
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Julianking93 said:
Americans do a lot of shit backwards for no apparent reason.

Seriously, why are we the only country that drives on the right side of the road, write dates month, day, year and don't use the metric system?
china drives on the right, and so do many other countries around the world.
heres a list I found:
R Afghanistan
R Albania
R Algeria
R American Samoa
R Andorra
R Angola
L Anguilla
L Antigua and Barbuda
R Argentina
R Armenia
R Aruba
L Australia
R Austria
R Azerbaijan
L Bahamas
R Bahrain
L Bangladesh
L Barbados
R Belarus
R Belgium
R Belize
R Benin
L Bermuda
L Bhutan
R Bolivia
R Bosnia and Herzegovina
L Botswana
R Brazil
R British Indian Ocean Territory (Diego Garcia)
L Brunei
R Bulgaria
R Burkina Faso
R Burundi
R Cambodia
R Cameroon
R Canada
R Cape Verde
L Cayman Islands
R Central African Republic
R Chad
R Chile
R China, People's Republic of (Mainland China)
L Christmas Island (Australia)
L Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia)
R Colombia
R Comoros
R Congo
L Cook Islands
R Costa Rica
R Croatia
R Cuba
L Cyprus
R Czech Republic
R Denmark
R Djibouti
L Dominica
R Dominican Republic
L East Timor
R Ecuador
R Egypt
R El Salvador
R Equatorial Guinea
R Eritrea
R Estonia
R Ethiopia
L Falkland Islands
R Faroe Islands (Denmark)
L Fiji
R Finland
R France
R French Guiana
R French Polynesia
R Gabon
R Gambia, The
R Gaza Strip
R Georgia
R Germany
R Ghana
R Gibraltar
R Greece
R Greenland
L Grenada
R Guadeloupe (French West Indies)
R Guam
R Guatemala
L Guernsey (Channel Islands)
R Guinea
R Guinea-Bissau
L Guyana
R Haiti
R Honduras
L Hong Kong
R Hungary
R Iceland
L India
L Indonesia
R Iran
R Iraq
L Ireland
R Israel
L Isle of Man
R Italy
R Ivory Coast
L Jamaica
L Japan
L Jersey (Channel Islands)
R Jordan
R Kazakhstan
L Kenya
L Kiribati
R Korea, Democratic People's Republic of (North Korea)
R Korea, Republic of (South Korea)
R Kuwait
R Kyrgyzstan
R Laos
R Latvia
R Lebanon
L Lesotho
R Liberia
R Libya
R Liechtenstein
R Lithuania
R Luxembourg
L Macau
R Macedonia
R Madagascar
L Malawi
L Malaysia
L Maldives
R Mali
L Malta
R Marshall Islands
R Martinique (French West Indies)
R Mauritania
L Mauritius
R Mayotte (France)
R Mexico
R Micronesia, Federated States of
R Midway Islands (USA)
R Moldova
R Monaco
R Mongolia
L Montserrat
R Morocco
L Mozambique
R Myanmar (Burma)
L Namibia
L Nauru
L Nepal
R Netherlands
R Netherlands Antilles (Curacao, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius, Saba)
R New Caledonia
L New Zealand
R Nicaragua
R Niger
R Nigeria
L Niue
L Norfolk Island (Australia)
R Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan)
R Norway
R Oman
L Pakistan
R Palau
R Panama
L Papua New Guinea
R Paraguay
R Peru
R Philippines
L Pitcairn Islands (Britain)
R Poland
R Portugal
R Puerto Rico
R Qatar
R Reunion
R Romania
R Russia
R Rwanda
R Saint Barth?emy (French West Indies)
L Saint Helena
L Saint Kitts and Nevis
L Saint Lucia
R Saint Martin (French West Indies)
R Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France)
L Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
R Samoa
R San Marino
R Sao Tome e Principe
R Saudi Arabia
R Senegal
L Seychelles
R Sierra Leone
L Singapore
R Slovakia
R Slovenia
L Solomon Islands
R Somalia (a part of Somalia trying to assert independence, Somaliland, also drives on the right)
L South Africa
R Spain
L Sri Lanka
R Sudan
L Suriname
R Svalbard (Norway)
L Swaziland
R Sweden
R Switzerland
R Syria
R Taiwan
R Tajikistan
L Tanzania
L Thailand
R Togo
L Tokelau (New Zealand)
L Tonga
L Trinidad and Tobago
R Tunisia
R Turkey
R Turkmenistan
L Turks and Caicos Islands
L Tuvalu
L Uganda
R Ukraine
R United Arab Emirates
L United Kingdom
R United States
R Uruguay
R Uzbekistan
R Vanuatu
R Venezuela
R Vietnam
L Virgin Islands (British)
L Virgin Islands (US)
R Wake Island (USA)
R Wallis and Futuna Islands [Fr.]
R West Bank
R Western Sahara (ex Spanish Sahara)
R Yemen
R Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)
R Zaire
L Zambia
L Zimbabwe

OT: I dont care which way someone writes it as long as I can read it
 

ZeLunarian

New member
Mar 1, 2010
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Iron Criterion said:
I was about to concede to your argument but then I found this article proving how right (and brilliant) I am. Enjoy :p

http://users.telenet.be/worldstandards/driving%20on%20the%20left.htm
Horses didn't have a left seat and a right seat :p Cars do.
Here cars driver seats are on the right. There, the driver sits on the left.
But that was a great find :D
 

implodinggoat

New member
Apr 3, 2009
35
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I'll concede that the way we write our dates down is ass backwards, if you'll admit that you drive on the wrong side of the road.