Why do Americans write the date different to the rest of us. m/d/year

1. 91

   tonymead60posted 7 years ago

   Why do Americans write the date different to the rest of us. m/d/year
   
   I really find it confusing at times, especially dates like 3/5/11 I would read that as 3rd of May.

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2. 58

   furnituremanposted 7 years ago

   Yes, I agree with you. We, Filipinos, don't have problems with that because we are following American system of education. Even in our measurements, we don't use the metric system, we use the English system--inches, foot, etc. In Europe, it's different. That makes thing confusing. I suggest for a universal ruling not only on this stuff, but also for other domains. If you're complaining about the way they are writing the date, the Americans will also ask the same question from the others who are adopting different styles. You see? It just proves that people are free to choose what they like. In a way, that's good for identity purposes, yet, you are right, it's confusing. Hence, my suggestion.

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3. 61

   kevin.bakerposted 7 years ago

   As an American, I actually agree with you that it can be confusing! I personally prefer YYYY/mm/dd or 2011/03/05 only because my computer likes dates in this way. It also may be because I was out of the states for 7 years as well. You ask most Americans, and many of them don't know that other people write dates differently. We are weird in that way on a lot of things - inches and feet, pounds and ounces, Fahrenheit, quarts and gallons, miles, acres, tons, hamburgers (without the ham), and sandwiches (without the sand or the witches).

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