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Why are people writing dates like "29 October, 2008" instead of the normal English order?
I'm seeing this more often recently, and I absolutely hate it!
"October 29th, 2008" is certainly the typical order of stating a date in English - although it's generally simplified to "October 29, 2008" or "Oct 29, 2008" in writing. Was there some change in guidelines that has brought about a large number of people writing "29 October, 2008?"
In particular, there has been a huge increase in using this date format in Wikipedia recently. I have edited a few pages back to the conventional order as a statement, but I would like to protest more formally. Does anyone know a link to a discussion board on this?
Thanks~.
I realize that dates come across in that order in several languages:
El 29 de octubre, 2008
Le 29 octobre, 2008
Am 29. Oktober 2008
Etc.
And it makes sense to write it in that order in those languages since that's the order they are given in speaking. However, I don't see a reason to write a date in a different order from how it's read. Why artificially impose the order of one language in the writing of another?
On a lesser note, the American order of month/day/year is certainly a little weird in that it goes medium/small/big. However it does reflect the general importance we give:
The month gives you a general sense of when
The day specifies it
And the year is added almost as an afterthought to further specify the date
Of all orders, I find the Asian (Japanese, Chinese etc.) order of year/month/date as most logical as it goes from largest to smallest.
10 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
I tend to use 29 October 2008 because I am an amateur genealogist, and it's a sort of convention among those of us who are interested in the hobby. It's also not far off from saying, "The 29th [day of] of October, 2008" as I would if I were talking. Its meaning is clear, and that's what is important to me.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
I'm afraid the other answerers are right. The only place in the world where the month comes before the date is here in America. America seems to have an obsession with being different from everybody else, even in spelling and grammar. The proper international way to write a date is date before month. Everyone in the world would recognize this format as correct, whereas only Americans would see it as wrong.
Edit: They're not really imposing it, because the majority of English speakers do read it that way. If you were from England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, or Canada, you would see and read it as, "the 29th of October 2008." I guess Wikipedia would just rather use a format that applies all across the board rather than one that caters to one particular nationality. Just the way things are.
- 1 decade ago
"Normal english order?" You mean American i guess...in Australia we write it 29 Oct 2008
- 1 decade ago
When I'm formatting my typed work for English class, we're supposed to use that order. Probably because it looks professional and formal.
Source(s): English class - How do you think about the answers? You can sign in to vote the answer.
- castaspella0183Lv 41 decade ago
That is the normal way for the military and for places outside the USA
- Anonymous1 decade ago
Month/Day/Year may be the norm in USA but in most places it Day/Month/Year.
America isn't the superpower leader of the whole world you know. Things are done differently in other places, so just get over it.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
you have a losing argument.
Outside of the USA the standard is
day/month/year as opposed to the American month/day year.
- 1 decade ago
why not start you're own - sorry! I meant your own -
political party where you fight for the rights of
all dispossessed words and punctuation of
the world?
Source(s): call it the punc-2-8-n party? sound like a good idea?
