Just wondering...

Woden

why is it that americans put the month before the day when announcing a date?

Boston

Is it not a french thing? Can always remember my french teacher getting us to write the month then the day. Maybe thats where they got it from.

ravenhead

I think this is a one for Fix it Friday!!

Dr. Loon

Because they're stubborn. Same as with the metric system and all that. They're better than us and our silly European ways.

hedgetrimmer

Ask Brains to Burn

Unfortunately I can't as they don't accept texts from outside Ireland

fragile

because thats the way they say the date when speaking..

"June 2nd 2004"

Europeans tend to say "the 2nd of June 2004", so that sthe way we write it

tman

dd/mm/yyyy should be a standard enforced by law.
****ing stupid frenchies/yanks:rolleyes:

soma

What I've always found so baffling about this format is that humans (at least western hemisphere ones), when describing something like a date, weight etc.. we tend to group things by "unit size" if that makes sense.. like.. "it weighs 4st 7lbs" or "I am 5ft 11in". These are in a decending order of unit-size..

and the reverse makes sense too like...

5th jan 2004, <day> <a month of days> <a year of months>

Whereas a month first just feels so wrong. *lol*

Sleepy

Originally posted by Dataisgod
why is it that americans put the month before the day when announcing a date?

Because they're American and inherantly stupid.

ella minnow pea

ah yes, racism is indeed funny

fragile

Originally posted by tman
dd/mm/yyyy should be a standard enforced by law.
****ing stupid frenchies/yanks:rolleyes:

I actually find yyyymmdd much better when using computers. If I have a large number of files that have been named based on the date using this format (20040602-report), I can sort by name and have them listed in the proper order.

embee

Originally posted by tman
****ing stupid frenchies/yanks:rolleyes:

I too, blame the French.

tman

Originally posted by fragile
I actually find yyyymmdd much better when using computers. If I have a large number of files that have been named based on the date using this format (20040602-report), I can sort by name and have them listed in the proper order.

good point. i think my camera automaticaly renames files into this format. pretty damn handy. (then again, you could just arrange by date)

doesn't abate my hatred of the french, though.

simu

They don't do that in France.

simu

What is so bad about France, anyway? Tis my favourite country after Ireland!

kaimera

Originally posted by Sleepy
Because they're American and inherantly stupid.

there's always one ignorant ass around :rolleyes:

AdMMM

So if someone calls the Americans stupid, their ignorant, however, if they call the French stupid, its perfectly acceptable?

alleepally

fragile has hit the nail on the head I think. It's down to language and the way people say things and that just carried on through to the dates. I'm sure further digging would uncover why and what dialect resulted in the American way of saying the month first.

kaimera

Originally posted by |.Murderer.|
So if someone calls the Americans stupid, their ignorant, however, if they call the French stupid, its perfectly acceptable?

given the context of the quote I used, yes.

read it again.

Dun

Anyone else finding the lumping of the Americans and French together rather ironic?

The French say the date day-month-year, not like the Americans.

And the French are great.

Exit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendar_date

According to this site, the current US version was imported from Britain at the time that America was being populated. But in the 1900s, Britain began using the European version which is the one we use here.

So it's nothing to do with dumb Americans, and the French don't even use that format.

kano476

americans also say things like twelve thirty instead of half twelve or ten forty instead of twenty to eleven.

i found most of the the french ive met to be somewhat pompous and slightly ignorant but thats probably their culture. i dunno what it is but they always speak like theyre talking down to ya.

the jewish are the best though. so paranoid its unreal.

simu

Originally posted by kano476
americans also say things like twelve thirty instead of half twelve or ten forty instead of twenty to eleven.

i found most of the the french ive met to be somewhat pompous and slightly ignorant but thats probably their culture. i dunno what it is but they always speak like theyre talking down to ya.

Do you speak to French people in English or in French?

If you speak in English with them they might appear pompous because both languages have many words in common but words of French origin used in English are considered to be very formal whereas they're just everyday words in French.

Crash

Originally posted by Exit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendar_date

According to this site, the current US version was imported from Britain at the time that America was being populated. But in the 1900s, Britain began using the European version which is the one we use here.

So it's nothing to do with dumb Americans, and the French don't even use that format.

So it was the brits then?! I KNEW IT! i KNEW it was the brits! even when it was the french i knew it was the brits!

funky penguin

i always considered it polite to talk to a person in their native tongue while in their country.

Only cos every foreign tourist i have met always made an effort to speak my language.

RobertFoster

Another "backwardism" that spans the pond...the use of the word "county"...

County Dublin, County Cork etc. compared to Orange County, Clark County etc.

Just something I noticed...I'm in no way stating all Americans are backward. As my Granny used to say - if we all looked and talked the same the world would be a very boring place.

ferdi

Originally posted by funky penguin
i always considered it polite to talk to a person in their native tongue while in their country.

Only cos every foreign tourist i have met always made an effort to speak my language.

i disagree, its embarrassing for you and irritating for them, allow me to illistrate:

me walking along the road in Paris, looking for a public toilet -

me: "escuse et moi!" - (the only bit really know)

french person: "Oui?"

me: "eh.....eh.......ehh.....eh........" (nervously flicking through my French Phrase book)

french person: "uhh..Oui?"

me:"oooh et....eh...oooh et....ehhh" (getting totally embarrassed and flustered)

french person:"Oui, oui?!" (getting angry because he is running late for his cheese convention)

me: "oooh et an leithras?!!"


would have been easier if i'd asked in english, if he didnt speak english, chances are the next person would have.

radiospan

DD/MM/YYYY (or yyyy_mm_dd for computer purposes) are the only two that make sense!

Is it true that almost no-one in America uses (or even understands) the 24-hour system?

I know the military use it, but I heard that no one else does? And that explains why they use a 12 hour clock (04:00:00 for 4pm) in 24 ?

funky penguin

Originally posted by ferdi
i disagree, its embarrassing for you and irritating for them, allow me to illistrate:

me walking along the road in Paris, looking for a public toilet -

me: "escuse et moi!" - (the only bit really know)

french person: "Oui?"

me: "eh.....eh.......ehh.....eh........" (nervously flicking through my French Phrase book)

french person: "uhh..Oui?"

me:"oooh et....eh...oooh et....ehhh" (getting totally embarrassed and flustered)

french person:"Oui, oui?!" (getting angry because he is running late for his cheese convention)

me: "oooh et an leithras?!!"


would have been easier if i'd asked in english, if he didnt speak english, chances are the next person would have.

Well, in this case, one wud make swinging and zipping motions around ones crotch, while simulating the wiping process on ones anus, all with a satisfied look on your face..............

RobertFoster

Originally posted by plazz2000
Is it true that almost no-one in America uses (or even understands) the 24-hour system?

I was speaking to an American girl online (as you do...) - she asked me what time it was in Ireland, I replied "20:00" because that's what was displayed on my clock at the time... to which she answered "ugh, military time". I think she thought I said "twenty hundred hours" rather than "eight o'clock" :rolleyes:

flogen

duh ferdi... its 'le pisspot'.

Seriously though, I think its important to make the effort, even if you dont know much.

Or just do the ass wiping thing... that would be good too.

Flogen

Sleepy

Originally posted by Kaimera
there's always one ignorant ass around :rolleyes:

As generalisations go, it's a pretty accurate one to assert that American's are stupid. They have insane levels of functional illiteracy, large swathes of their population can't speak English (their national language), their high-school graduation exams (SAT's) are the educational equivalent of a Junior Certificate, they "elected" a president with an IQ of 93, these are the people that gave rise to creationism, Melrose Place and the Jerry Springer Show.

Ignorant Kaimera? No. Opinionated, I'll grant you, but to be quite frank, I don't think that's a bad thing. I made a joke based on quite a widely accepted generalisation if you didn't like it, fair enough. That's your perogative. I'd think twice about questioning the intelligence of an individual you know nothing about though. It has a tendancy to bite you in the ass.

Woden

Originally posted by Sleepy

I'd think twice about questioning the intelligence of an individual you know nothing about though.

But one doesn't have to think twice about questioning the intelligence of 250 million people of which you know nothing about most of them either? god bless generalisations, i'll think i'll go have a pint of guiness and look for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow with some leprechauns (sp?)

i still think americans are stupid though

thanks for the replies folks btw

data

Gurgle

The japanese use yy/mm/dd
Can be confusing as hell.

Sleepy

Originally posted by Dataisgod
But one doesn't have to think twice about questioning the intelligence of 250 million people of which you know nothing about most of them either? god bless generalisations, i'll think i'll go have a pint of guiness and look for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow with some leprechauns (sp?)

i still think americans are stupid though

data

Nope, not really, because by the very nature of a generalisation you're reffering to the majority of that group of people not the individuals who buck the trend. I'm not implying all Americans are stupid (that would be a rather stupid thing to do considering that most of the technology I'm using to make this post was American in origin/invention), just the majority of them.

Woden

Originally posted by Sleepy
Nope, not really, because by the very nature of a generalisation you're reffering to the majority of that group of people not the individuals who buck the trend. I'm not implying all Americans are stupid (that would be a rather stupid thing to do considering that most of the technology I'm using to make this post was American in origin/invention), just the majority of them.

fair enough, i tend to judge most things, groups etc. by people that do mess with the trend, then just the masses