In the UK, people write dates as DD/MM/YYYY. This is confusing when you are talking about the 1st-12th days of a particular month -- today is 11/9/11 in the US, but 9/11/11 in the UK. However baffling this is to me (it's getting easier, but then I second guess myself), I have to admit that DD/MM/YYYY makes more sense. At the very least, it is consistent. Beginning with the most specific (day), we then move to a little more broad (month), and then to the widest point -- the year.
Still, it seems to me that keeping the year until the very end is not very useful, at least not from a literary point of view. It's kind of like German, where you have this long sentence, but the verb doesn't happen until the end. Ergo, no one knows what you're talking about until the sentence is over. I think a better way would be to begin with the year -- set the stage a bit, you know? Then get a bit more specific with the month, so everyone can start to imagine the season and scenery. Finally, cap it off with a date, just for clarification. YYYY/MM/DD, I say.
That's all today, folks. My mind is spinning with stress, and rather than scream at anyone, I'd prefer to offer you this deep thought.
Still, it seems to me that keeping the year until the very end is not very useful, at least not from a literary point of view. It's kind of like German, where you have this long sentence, but the verb doesn't happen until the end. Ergo, no one knows what you're talking about until the sentence is over. I think a better way would be to begin with the year -- set the stage a bit, you know? Then get a bit more specific with the month, so everyone can start to imagine the season and scenery. Finally, cap it off with a date, just for clarification. YYYY/MM/DD, I say.
That's all today, folks. My mind is spinning with stress, and rather than scream at anyone, I'd prefer to offer you this deep thought.
1 comments
I agree it definitely makes more sense the way we do it in the UK. It confuses me when I see it the US way, it's just not logical!
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