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MM/DD/YY is an exclusively American standard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_date_formats_by_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_date_formats_b

by sd9 2y ago

MM/DD/YY is an exclusively American standard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_date_formats_by_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_date_formats_by_countr... I have no idea why America settled on MM/DD/YY, which seems like absolutely the least intuitive permutation of D, M, and Y. Except perhaps MYD.

pcthrowaway 2y ago
Canada uses this also, though we also use day-month-year and year-month-day. Yes, this effectively makes dates nearly impossible to decipher here.
- iinnPP 2y ago
  I have always dated things with months spelled for this reason. Except where the format is clearly defined, which is fairly common and likely for the same reason.
GuB-42 2y ago
It seems like it comes from an british convention of spelling dates "February 12, 2025" instead of the now more common "The 12th of February, 2025". Like US customary units, imported from the british, but the UK modernized its system, not the US.
SigmundA 2y ago
To me its sounds better and more correct to say: February 12th, 2025 Rather than: 12 February 2025 And is easier to say than: The 12th of February 2025 So it's always been natural to write the numeric form the same way, but I am American. I can appreciate day first being easier to sort by machines and having an agreed upon international standard.
- mdiesel 2y ago
  Just like the 4th of July, that most American of days
  - SigmundA 2y ago
    "The 4th of July" is more formal sounding, so it makes sense for the holiday, but many just say "July 4th" more informally when referring to the holiday. Again grammatically is easier and shorter to say month day vs the day of month.
voytec 2y ago
For a person born and raised in metric system, MM/DD/YY is just as bonkers as if someone decided that MM:HH:SS makes sense.
- ars 2y ago
  Year month day makes sense. Month day year makes sense because that's how people talk: I'll be there February 5, etc. Month day year makes no sense because it's backwards, and no one talks that way. So why use that?
  - voytec 2y ago
    > Month day year makes sense because that's how people talk: I'll be there February 5, etc. People also say "twelve past two" and yet you don't use 12:2:SS.
    - ars 2y ago
      People only say "twelve past two" when they want to be formal and awkward.
natebc 2y ago
I've always thought it was because we say: February Twelfth Two Thousand and Twenty Five Feb 12 2025 02/12/2025 I know it's cool for Europeans ... and everyone else to hate on us for it but it does seem to make sense given the way we typically say the date.
doctorhandshake 2y ago
Agreed - MMDDYY is truly unintuitive but even DDMMYY is ambiguous if it’s early enough in the morning.

by sd9 2y ago

pcthrowaway 2y ago

Canada uses this also, though we also use day-month-year and year-month-day. Yes, this effectively makes dates nearly impossible to decipher here.

iinnPP 2y ago
I have always dated things with months spelled for this reason. Except where the format is clearly defined, which is fairly common and likely for the same reason.

GuB-42 2y ago

It seems like it comes from an british convention of spelling dates "February 12, 2025" instead of the now more common "The 12th of February, 2025". Like US customary units, imported from the british, but the UK modernized its system, not the US.

SigmundA 2y ago

To me its sounds better and more correct to say: February 12th, 2025 Rather than: 12 February 2025 And is easier to say than: The 12th of February 2025 So it's always been natural to write the numeric form the same way, but I am American. I can appreciate day first being easier to sort by machines and having an agreed upon international standard.

mdiesel 2y ago
Just like the 4th of July, that most American of days
- SigmundA 2y ago
  "The 4th of July" is more formal sounding, so it makes sense for the holiday, but many just say "July 4th" more informally when referring to the holiday. Again grammatically is easier and shorter to say month day vs the day of month.

voytec 2y ago

For a person born and raised in metric system, MM/DD/YY is just as bonkers as if someone decided that MM:HH:SS makes sense.

ars 2y ago
Year month day makes sense. Month day year makes sense because that's how people talk: I'll be there February 5, etc. Month day year makes no sense because it's backwards, and no one talks that way. So why use that?
- voytec 2y ago
  > Month day year makes sense because that's how people talk: I'll be there February 5, etc. People also say "twelve past two" and yet you don't use 12:2:SS.
  - ars 2y ago
    People only say "twelve past two" when they want to be formal and awkward.

natebc 2y ago

I've always thought it was because we say: February Twelfth Two Thousand and Twenty Five Feb 12 2025 02/12/2025 I know it's cool for Europeans ... and everyone else to hate on us for it but it does seem to make sense given the way we typically say the date.

doctorhandshake 2y ago

Agreed - MMDDYY is truly unintuitive but even DDMMYY is ambiguous if it’s early enough in the morning.