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Why do Americans want to know the month first and the day second? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by NONE_dc@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

100 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

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[–] mercano@lemmy.world 12 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Most significant digits first. You write the thousands place before the hundreds, you write the month before the day. Of course, the whole argument is blow away when you write the year at the end instead of the beginning. (ISO YYYY-MM-DD dates for the win.)

[–] communism@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Most significant digits first.

That would only make sense if the US wrote the year first, but they don't. They just seem to slap the date together in a random order

[–] jacksilver@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

I think that's context relevant though. If we think about when dates are most frequently used (news, business, planning) it's typically within the year (or month will give context).

That added with the fact it's not uncommon in some situations to just provide month/day.

That being said, I don't think either is better or worse. Just a preference kinda thing, unlike the issue between metric and imperial units.

[–] AnnaFrankfurter@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

little Endian entered the chat.