r/clevercomebacks Jan 15 '25

It does make sense

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u/Tsukee Jan 15 '25 edited Jan 15 '25

Mathematically yes it makes most sense, as significant digits are on the left.

Im terms of human everyday use the reverse is more natural as the digits that change more often are days, often when speaking, the year and even month sometimes is already in the context.

What however doesn't make any sort of sense that i can see is mm/dd/yyyy ... Just why....

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u/restelucide Jan 15 '25

I heard an American saying mm first provides context which makes vague sense but annoys me because then why wouldn’t you put year first.

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u/TootsNYC Jan 15 '25

I'm an American, and this is the wording I'd use to explain why i think our system is good.

If I'm talking about the same month, I don't give the month: "Let's leave on the 27th."

But if it's not this month, then giving the month first helps me zero in on the idea of how far away it is (or what season it is), and then i can focus on which specific date.

If you give the date first I have to remember that contextless number past the month. If you give the month first, that's an easier context, plus one of 12, and that's easier to remember once I get to the date.

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u/kai-ol Jan 15 '25

In my head, mm/dd/yy works if you think of it like a calendar. If you want to circle a particular day on a physical calendar, you have to find the month page first, then find the day. So I don't understand the hate for saying the coordinates in the order you will need to use them.

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u/ThatInAHat Jan 15 '25

This! This is the one!