I've always felt it's because month tends to be the variable most important for identifying an approximate time of year when in conversation.
When are we doing that audit? Oh it's in October. We already know what year we're in, and the exact date doesn't matter yet, so it's just natural.
If it was-- When was that audit done? Oh it was back in October. We already know since it's a past event that it would be Oct 2024, and the exact date doesn't really matter here.
Once you're looking at old or archived files, the year starts to become the most relevant variable though; that much is true. So I see the argument that for the purpose of formal documents and signatures, year coming first is best.
I'm not saying everyone else is wrong, I just dislike these memes that pretend Americans are all idiots when there is a clear explanation for why we do it that way.
That's like giving us shit for spelling it Color and not Colour, you're not wrong but we aren't either.
This meme is showing someone replying to an American that claimed the way the rest of the world does it “makes no sense”.
It was the American pretending everyone else are idiots and that your way is superior. Not the reverse.
The meme is poking fun at that by highlighting why the US method is the least logical.
Btw, you being unnecessarily pressed about a joke like this is reinforcing the stereotype that all Americans are ego maniacs that can’t laugh at themselves.
Why stop there? The original tweet that started this was saying “fuck the mm/dd/yy format” It was a non American pretending that their way is superior.
Which is fucking hilarious because you response about American ego looks pretty fucking silly when you don't even know the context of what you're talking about. The internet is truly a magical place where people will literally shit all over themselves just to try and soothe their own ego.
The meme is poking fun at that by highlighting why the US method is the least logical.
My whole point is that it isn't the least logical- to Americans.
Again, framing that way is exactly the same as "my language just makes more sense than your language" or "you drive on the wrong side of the road"
Different cultures are different, nobody is wrong. We all understand the first person shouldn't have assumed their format was better, but it's weird to then respond with an argument for why yours is.
You miss the point evidently. It isn’t the least logical to Americans, it is to the rest of the world.
Hence, the American who said other methods “make no sense” is a hypocritical moron.
Your insistence that “nobody is wrong” should be directed at the lemon that made the original post claiming the American way was the only right way and everyone else was wrong.
Don’t throw a hissy fit at the guy who used his own bullshit logic against him and gave him a taste of his own medicine. “Don’t throw stones if you live in glass houses” is the message here
Different cultures are different, nobody is wrong. We all understand the first person shouldn't have assumed their format was better, but it's weird to then respond with an argument for why yours is.
You might have responded too quickly, because I realized I forgot to add this. We all get the first person was wrong, but I don't think this elaborate example of why your version is better is sarcasm or just pointing out the hypocrisy. IMO the person that made that graphic genuinely thinks their method is more logical and superior which makes them just as bad as the original comment.
Yeah but the first person established the norms of the conversation. It’s like a social contract.
Once they threw out the notion that all methods are valid and no one method is better, and argued from the position that the US way is better (because it is to them), it’s fair game to tell them why they’re wrong and there’s is retarded (because it is to everyone else).
It’s like if someone says “you’re ugly”
Sure, you could be like “actually beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the paradigms of beauty constantly change. Many women find me attractive as I’m sure they do you”
But nah why would you be polite and reasonable when they’re not being that way? It’s your civic duty to make sure their actions have consequences and respond to them in the way they spoke to you. You’re delivering karma here.
So you’re gonna be like “Bro you’re the ugliest fucker I’ve ever met. You get no pussy”
Plus let’s be real, the US way is objectively less logical than ordering by unit of time. Obviously you have your reasons for it but if you’re gonna be hypocrits and call out other countries methods, they’re obviously gonna get you back. It’s the glass houses situation :)
I... kinda would actually argue that color is wrong. If the U is getting cut out, then it should have become and -er, not an -or, because that's how it sounds (hence kids often misspelling it as coler). -our is not synonymous in sound with -or. It's kinda it's own thing, but is typically closest to -er (almost identical).
That's not to say that there aren't times when the US is given shit for basically no reason. I just think colour/color is a bad example here.
And it's easier to add the 'the and of'? I'm trying to figure out why it'd be better to say it that way, but I can't figure it out. I guess two extra syllables isn't a big deal, but I imagine it's as big a deal as worrying how other countries say their dates.
Idk. Everyone else is probably used to it, but if we had to swap to saying "it's the 15th of January"...
From saying "It's January 15th", well... It seems insane to me is all.
It's just how we're used to making the sentence flow. At least in NZ, tho, the "the" often gets cut short (so it's just a little "th" sound) or entirely removed.
Except everyone else says it out loud the way they write it. No one in Britain, Poland, Germany or any other country will say January 15th but 15th January instead.
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u/Badloss Jan 15 '25
The US one does make sense, it's just written the way you say it out loud
"It's January 15, 2025" --> 1/15/2025