this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2023
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The inventor of the imperial units used by the US, this one really sniffed glue.
I'm with you on metric vs. standard units all day, it's downright embarrassing that we still haven't switched to metric...but Month, Day, Year makes far more sense. The numerical day of the month is pointless by itself, there are 12 of each number (except 29-31) every year so the number says nothing at all without the context. It makes no sense to start reciting a date with the least important and least descriptive bit of information. The month is the piece of information that gives the most detail on its own and cuts down on the number of words to say the date. Instead of "The 12th of May" we just say "May 12th" cutting two completely unnecessary words from British English. It also lets you know the season of the year right off the bat. If we ask when a movie, game, or book is coming out, "in March" is the best way to say it if you had to choose only one piece of data of the three. "This year/Next year" or "the 25th" give less info. We leave off the year if the future event is in the current year so that comes last naturally. As objectively as possible, we improved the date format.
Counterpoint: be consequential and go from most generic to most specific with year-month-day.
If something is obviously in the current year, just leave the year part.
Maybe we could make a standard out of this...