Can someone explain to a naive Brit something?

[Black Spiral Dancer]

I was talking to my wife the other day when she was chatting on a US site, and she asked me "Why does the American date format read the wrong way?"
IE Why, if you want to write 25th of December, do you write 12/25? I couldn't answer, since I didn't know.

In the UK, we write the date in the order of Unit size (Day/Month/Year), so obviously reading Month/Day/Year seems totally wrong to me.

I just wanted to know if anyone knows why? I'm not having a go, just curious as to the reasons.

[VoldtaEngler]

Everybody writes it differently. I sometimes write it as 01/1/2007
Or 1/1/2007 or January 1st, 2007

The ones that confuse me is Month/Day/Year (10/3/2007) which would be March 10th, 2007

Most places here in the US write it Day/Month/Year

Oh maybe you can explain something to me... why do UK'ers drive on the left side of the road?

[Lady Alias]

Yeah, you crazy drivers!

Well, anyway. Yeah, I just do January 10th, 2007 because it's what I'm used to , even though 10th of January 2007 would make more sense. But hey, America is the land of the rebellious pioneers. Maybe we just value the month more then the day.

[Black Spiral Dancer]

I suppose because the majority of people are right handed, it's a way of keeping their strongest hand on the steering wheel, when changing gear, putting on the handbreak, changing the cd/cassette/etc, groping your girlfriend/boyfriend. Not being a driver, I wouldn't know.

[Kidthorazine]

we write it that way because thats how we say it out loud usually.

[Morning Glory]

Exactly what KT said. Because that's how we say it. I understand cataloguing it as day/month/year for the sake of increment division, but it wouldn't make any sense in common speech. For instance, take 25/12/07. If you said that out loud you'd say the date was "twenty-fifth December." See? You'd be saying that it was 25 Decembers (AKA 25 years), not 25 days in the month of December. If you want to say it that way, you'd say it was "the twenty-fifth of December." Some people say it like that, but then it wouldn't be the same as the way it was written which would cause additional confusion, and people like the shorter version. It makes more sense to write it 12/25/2007 and say it the same as "December twenty-fifth."

The reason that the year is at the end of the sequence is because it's an afterthought. notice as when I said the date I neglected to mention the year. it's assumed that it's common knowledge what year it is, whereas the day is easier to forget. when someone asks you what day it is, you'll probably say "Tuesday (assuming that they forgot the weekday since they don't know the date) the twenty fifth." You probably won't include the month either, because that's sometimes assumed as well, but it goes either way. Of course it's necessary to include the full date for official purposes in writing so formally it just follows the informal and sticks the year at the end.

[Black Spiral Dancer]

We would say 25th OF December, but that is just us.

[Mindgames]

Yeah, the Brits all seem to say dates as "the X of X" - when I say "February 20th" they look at me like I'm speaking Klingon. Course the US system fails completely when you get to PA, where it's "The twentieth day of the second month in the year of Our Lord two thousand and seven, may it please you to be so."

As to the driving on the left thing, it's a British thing - almost all the countries that use the left are ex-colonies of the UK. It started way before cars so has nothing to do with the layout of the gearshift or gas pedal - in the Middle Ages people passed on the left as it was easier to defend (right hand = sword hand) with all the blood and the stabbings and the horses and the..... anyways the urban roads in the UK during the Industral Revolution were built to reflect that and now it'd cost too much to change. Roman troops passed on the left, jousting runs were laid out on the left, and all of Europe drove on the left too, until Napoleon reversed it (he was a left-handed midget), but Britain, being at war with the lil minx, kept to their own side. The US seems to have taken their layout from the Dutch and Spanish, both right-side-drivers at the time, and the US Cavalry carried their swords with left-passing in mind. Japan drives on the left for the same sword-related reasons, this time from the Samurai. Italians drive where the hell they want as they have horns, and Indians just aim to drive within the vague area of the road.

mG

[mmmcherry]

"The twentieth day of the second month in the year of Our Lord two thousand and seven, may it please you to be so."

NOPE thats way too much work to say. ill stick to the month, then the day.

heres a scary video of drivers in india... you think theres gonna be 20 accidents as you watch the less than 5 minutes of video, but not a single one. and most of the people are on bikes and motorbikes! gives me nightmares...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjrEQaG5jPM

scaryness.

[mmmcherry]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9DLl...elated&search=

and this! jesus! its like playing frogger!!!

[Lady Alias]

Wow, that fist video is insane.

[mmmcherry]

i know... it gives me nightmares haha... but traffic accidents are pretty rare in india i think, cause they have to pay so much attention.. that was in bombay too, one of the biggest cities, and theres no stop lights or signs or traffic rules or anything!

[Kidthorazine]

yeah i think because in India, unlike america, people dont drive like assholes. Therefore they have less accidents.

[Mr Karl]

I'm never sure how to write dates, exept on forms, and that's only because they tell you how they want it

[TheQuietPlace]

Because we're American, dammit.

[Nikki Vega]

It is probably the same reason why we use miles vs. kilometers and F vs C. We bastardize everything.

[funkatron]

America Kicks Ass! Garrrr!

[grebo]

using metric makes your measurments sound bigger

[Black Spiral Dancer]

Yes, I'm certain 8 inches sounds less than 20.32 centimetres.

We do use metric and imperial measurements with wild abandon!