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  3. Why do Americans want to know the month first and the day second?

Why do Americans want to know the month first and the day second?

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asklemmy
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  • none_dc@lemmy.worldN [email protected]

    I'm sorry but it doesn't make sense TO ME. Based on what I was taught, regardless of the month, I think what matters first is to know what day of the month you are in, if at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of said month. After you know that, you can find out the month to know where you are in the year.

    What is the benefit of doing it the other way around?

    EDIT: To avoid misunderstandings:

    • I am NOT making fun OF ANYONE.
    • I am NOT negatively judging ANYTHING.
    • I am totally open to being corrected and LEARN.
    • This post is out of pure and honest CURIOSITY.

    So PLEASE, don't take it the wrong way.

    mydarkesttimeline01@ani.socialM This user is from outside of this forum
    mydarkesttimeline01@ani.socialM This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote on last edited by
    #32

    I don't think there's any real logic behind it other than the founders of our nation post the war of independence did not want to have any real similarities between America and Britain.

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • none_dc@lemmy.worldN [email protected]

      I'm sorry but it doesn't make sense TO ME. Based on what I was taught, regardless of the month, I think what matters first is to know what day of the month you are in, if at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of said month. After you know that, you can find out the month to know where you are in the year.

      What is the benefit of doing it the other way around?

      EDIT: To avoid misunderstandings:

      • I am NOT making fun OF ANYONE.
      • I am NOT negatively judging ANYTHING.
      • I am totally open to being corrected and LEARN.
      • This post is out of pure and honest CURIOSITY.

      So PLEASE, don't take it the wrong way.

      F This user is from outside of this forum
      F This user is from outside of this forum
      [email protected]
      wrote on last edited by
      #33

      It would make sense if they were going YYYY/MM/DD. But they literally do MM/DD/YYYY

      WTF

      C 6 2 Replies Last reply
      1
      • Z [email protected]

        Ooh ooh I know whe calander one. 2 or 3 roman empowers were so up their own arse they added there names to the calander. Augustus being the only one I remember off the top of my head. In order to make them fit they shortened other months.

        nokturne213@sopuli.xyzN This user is from outside of this forum
        nokturne213@sopuli.xyzN This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote on last edited by
        #34

        Isn't this also why September is not the 7th month, and October is not the 8th month?

        Z 1 Reply Last reply
        1
        • F [email protected]

          It would make sense if they were going YYYY/MM/DD. But they literally do MM/DD/YYYY

          WTF

          C This user is from outside of this forum
          C This user is from outside of this forum
          [email protected]
          wrote on last edited by
          #35

          What gets me with this date format, is I'm just a random person on the internet and I could be anywhere and I tell you the date is 03/04/2025.

          DD/MM/YYYY format exists too, so is it April third or is it March fourth?

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          • F [email protected]

            It would make sense if they were going YYYY/MM/DD. But they literally do MM/DD/YYYY

            WTF

            6 This user is from outside of this forum
            6 This user is from outside of this forum
            [email protected]
            wrote on last edited by
            #36

            What's your birthday? When saying it, do you start with the year?

            I am pro-ISO 8601 but I see how MMDDYYYY could be tempting to Murca

            F 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • 6 [email protected]

              What's your birthday? When saying it, do you start with the year?

              I am pro-ISO 8601 but I see how MMDDYYYY could be tempting to Murca

              F This user is from outside of this forum
              F This user is from outside of this forum
              [email protected]
              wrote on last edited by
              #37

              The Chinese do.

              1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • vaguerant@fedia.ioV [email protected]

                Perhaps the most relevant of all: time of day. 9:30. Hours first, then minutes. I'm not from a location that does month-day ordering, but I think largest to smallest works excellently for time measurement, hence ISO 8601.

                R This user is from outside of this forum
                R This user is from outside of this forum
                [email protected]
                wrote on last edited by
                #38

                I'm surprised I didn't even think of that. It's so obvious!

                1 Reply Last reply
                1
                • aatube@kbin.melroy.orgA [email protected]

                  sauce?

                  some studies on keyboard layout have suggested that, for a skilled typist, layout is largely irrelevant – even randomized and alphabetical keyboards allow for similar typing speeds to QWERTY and Dvorak keyboards – and that switching costs always outweigh the benefits of further training with a keyboard layout a person has already learned

                  P This user is from outside of this forum
                  P This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #39

                  Here's just one, and there are many. What you cited above doesn't contradict what I said either...my point is it wasn't created to intentionally slow typing down

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • dembosain@midwest.socialD [email protected]

                    Because the month tells me more about how far in the future something is. If I have an appointment on the 12th of July, there's not much information in knowing it's on the 12th. 12th of what? But it's in July, so between 1 and 2 months in the future. If I need more info, then I'll pay attention to the day. So in order of information given.

                    Historical dates are similar, except I really just need (roughly) the year, and then a month if that's relevant. Knowing the exact date of a historical event is just showing off. But if you know the month, you know what season it was, what the weather was probably like. Was it planting/growing/harvest time? You can guess at a lot of things with just the month.

                    none_dc@lemmy.worldN This user is from outside of this forum
                    none_dc@lemmy.worldN This user is from outside of this forum
                    [email protected]
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #40

                    Perhaps because where I live there are no seasons in the same way as in the United States, knowing the month doesn't matter to us unless we work in the fields, here there are only months of sun and months of rain.

                    dembosain@midwest.socialD C 2 Replies Last reply
                    0
                    • nokturne213@sopuli.xyzN [email protected]

                      Isn't this also why September is not the 7th month, and October is not the 8th month?

                      Z This user is from outside of this forum
                      Z This user is from outside of this forum
                      [email protected]
                      wrote on last edited by [email protected]
                      #41

                      Yeh. They stuffed em in random places each time I'm sure it made sense at the time

                      K 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • N [email protected]

                        Why do you use 60 seconds in a minute and not an even 100? Why use randomly sized calendar months?

                        Because 60 evenly divides into halves, thirds, fifths, sixths, etc, and because it's impossible to divide 365.2425 days into 12 months of equal length.

                        S This user is from outside of this forum
                        S This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #42

                        I'm a fan of 12 months of 30 with a 5 day new years in between

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        2
                        • none_dc@lemmy.worldN [email protected]

                          I'm sorry but it doesn't make sense TO ME. Based on what I was taught, regardless of the month, I think what matters first is to know what day of the month you are in, if at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of said month. After you know that, you can find out the month to know where you are in the year.

                          What is the benefit of doing it the other way around?

                          EDIT: To avoid misunderstandings:

                          • I am NOT making fun OF ANYONE.
                          • I am NOT negatively judging ANYTHING.
                          • I am totally open to being corrected and LEARN.
                          • This post is out of pure and honest CURIOSITY.

                          So PLEASE, don't take it the wrong way.

                          stinky@redlemmy.comS This user is from outside of this forum
                          stinky@redlemmy.comS This user is from outside of this forum
                          [email protected]
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #43

                          Why do you care? There are so many other cultural differences to highlight, history and music and art that only exist overseas, hundreds of millions of people with the same dreams and ambitions you have. Why on earth would you focus on something so trivial?

                          none_dc@lemmy.worldN 1 Reply Last reply
                          1
                          • none_dc@lemmy.worldN [email protected]

                            I'm sorry but it doesn't make sense TO ME. Based on what I was taught, regardless of the month, I think what matters first is to know what day of the month you are in, if at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of said month. After you know that, you can find out the month to know where you are in the year.

                            What is the benefit of doing it the other way around?

                            EDIT: To avoid misunderstandings:

                            • I am NOT making fun OF ANYONE.
                            • I am NOT negatively judging ANYTHING.
                            • I am totally open to being corrected and LEARN.
                            • This post is out of pure and honest CURIOSITY.

                            So PLEASE, don't take it the wrong way.

                            stinky@redlemmy.comS This user is from outside of this forum
                            stinky@redlemmy.comS This user is from outside of this forum
                            [email protected]
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #44

                            Many computer systems store dates starting with the year. Isn't that interesting?

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • none_dc@lemmy.worldN [email protected]

                              I'm sorry but it doesn't make sense TO ME. Based on what I was taught, regardless of the month, I think what matters first is to know what day of the month you are in, if at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of said month. After you know that, you can find out the month to know where you are in the year.

                              What is the benefit of doing it the other way around?

                              EDIT: To avoid misunderstandings:

                              • I am NOT making fun OF ANYONE.
                              • I am NOT negatively judging ANYTHING.
                              • I am totally open to being corrected and LEARN.
                              • This post is out of pure and honest CURIOSITY.

                              So PLEASE, don't take it the wrong way.

                              J This user is from outside of this forum
                              J This user is from outside of this forum
                              [email protected]
                              wrote on last edited by [email protected]
                              #45

                              Linguistics

                              In UK English, it's considered proper to write "the 6th of March" as "6 March" and sometimes read as "6th March" which can be jarring to Americans as their shorthand is "March 6th" and when "6(th) March" is encountered in written form, it's expanded to the full "6th of March" when spoken

                              That doesn't mean this won't be yet another feature American English absorbs from UK English but right now flipping them in speech requires a few extra syllables and people are lazy

                              none_dc@lemmy.worldN 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • stinky@redlemmy.comS [email protected]

                                Why do you care? There are so many other cultural differences to highlight, history and music and art that only exist overseas, hundreds of millions of people with the same dreams and ambitions you have. Why on earth would you focus on something so trivial?

                                none_dc@lemmy.worldN This user is from outside of this forum
                                none_dc@lemmy.worldN This user is from outside of this forum
                                [email protected]
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #46

                                ... Curiosity? Some interesting things are hidden in the most trivial information.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                2
                                • J [email protected]

                                  Linguistics

                                  In UK English, it's considered proper to write "the 6th of March" as "6 March" and sometimes read as "6th March" which can be jarring to Americans as their shorthand is "March 6th" and when "6(th) March" is encountered in written form, it's expanded to the full "6th of March" when spoken

                                  That doesn't mean this won't be yet another feature American English absorbs from UK English but right now flipping them in speech requires a few extra syllables and people are lazy

                                  none_dc@lemmy.worldN This user is from outside of this forum
                                  none_dc@lemmy.worldN This user is from outside of this forum
                                  [email protected]
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #47

                                  people are lazy

                                  Kinda relatable ngl 😅

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  1
                                  • theimpressivex@lemm.eeT [email protected]

                                    ISO 8601 rules!

                                    sevon@lemmy.kde.socialS This user is from outside of this forum
                                    sevon@lemmy.kde.socialS This user is from outside of this forum
                                    [email protected]
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #48

                                    RFC 3339 is where it's at

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    4
                                    • none_dc@lemmy.worldN [email protected]

                                      I'm sorry but it doesn't make sense TO ME. Based on what I was taught, regardless of the month, I think what matters first is to know what day of the month you are in, if at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of said month. After you know that, you can find out the month to know where you are in the year.

                                      What is the benefit of doing it the other way around?

                                      EDIT: To avoid misunderstandings:

                                      • I am NOT making fun OF ANYONE.
                                      • I am NOT negatively judging ANYTHING.
                                      • I am totally open to being corrected and LEARN.
                                      • This post is out of pure and honest CURIOSITY.

                                      So PLEASE, don't take it the wrong way.

                                      roofuskit@lemmy.worldR This user is from outside of this forum
                                      roofuskit@lemmy.worldR This user is from outside of this forum
                                      [email protected]
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #49

                                      Anyone who doesn't use ISO 8601 is wrong.

                                      none_dc@lemmy.worldN 2xsaiko@discuss.tchncs.de2 2 Replies Last reply
                                      18
                                      • roofuskit@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

                                        Anyone who doesn't use ISO 8601 is wrong.

                                        none_dc@lemmy.worldN This user is from outside of this forum
                                        none_dc@lemmy.worldN This user is from outside of this forum
                                        [email protected]
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #50

                                        FACTS

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        1
                                        • none_dc@lemmy.worldN [email protected]

                                          Perhaps because where I live there are no seasons in the same way as in the United States, knowing the month doesn't matter to us unless we work in the fields, here there are only months of sun and months of rain.

                                          dembosain@midwest.socialD This user is from outside of this forum
                                          dembosain@midwest.socialD This user is from outside of this forum
                                          [email protected]
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #51

                                          Sure, but if I tell you the month, you still know what part of the year it is. If it's sunny, or if it's rainy must mean something to you.

                                          none_dc@lemmy.worldN 1 Reply Last reply
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