I usually assume that any date written as 03/05/2020 or the like is always of type MM/DD/YYYY just because Europeans would not write out a date like that without thinking “this is ambiguous – I’d better clarify”.
Americans have a luxury of assuming their conventions are universal that Europeans don’t.
I’ve always used 25Sep2023 (or 25-Sep-2023) as I wasn’t going to let computers take over numbering months. They’re smart enough to convert to text, or I’m too lazy to convert (take your pick). The numbering should start at zero in computers, anyway, with January the zeroth month. Only when I started keeping files on the computer by date I use 2023-09-25 as the start of the file folder name, so to keep folders in order.
It confuses the pharmacy people when asking my birth date and I say (for example) 25 September instead of 2509 (or worse, as I have a low digit date and say 1209). I’m being clear in the date.
No, as others have said, you are mistaking familiarity with your own local dialect for objective “naturalness”.
For what it’s worth, in British English I would say either “the 23rd of August” or perhaps “August the 23rd”. But “August 23rd” (omitting “the”), is distinctly U.S. dialect.
e.g. the nursery rhyme:
Remember remember the 5th of November
Gunpowder treason and plot.
The US holiday is universally called “The Fourth of July”, not “July the Fourth”. So there’s no absolute rule.
That’s true. Here in the US, we talk about our own holiday as The Fourth of July. It would sound awkward not to use “the” at the beginning of that phrase.
In any case the US and Britain use “the” differently in many context as in . “in hospital” rather than “in the hospital.”
Yes, sorry - I should have been clearer. “July 4th” (omitting the definite article) is not the only way that Americans say that date, but in the U.K. we never omit the definite article, so hearing that would identify someone as American. (With the caveat that I haven’t lived in the UK for two decades, so it may have changed.)
“Happy Fourth of July”
Americans use “the” the same way that Brits do, for everything but hospital. “Bob’s at church” means that he’s engaging in worship. “Bob’s at the church” could mean that he’s helping set up the rummage sale. “Mary’s at school” means she’s taking classes. “Mary’s at the school” could mean she’s there for a PTA meeting. “Joe’s in jail” means he’s imprisoned. “Joe’s at the jail” could mean he’s a lawyer meeting with his client. Well, to Brits, hospitals work the same way: “Beth’s in hospital” means that she’s undergoing treatment, while “the hospital” could mean that she’s volunteering there.
Huh, I was about to say they didn’t but decided to check first. Mine is in English, French, and Spanish, but the French and Spanish fonts are so small that you really need to squint to see them.
This analysis is very good, except I think it’s still not quite right. As you note, there’s the presence/absence of the definite article, and there’s the change in preposition in/at. And what feels intuitively right to me as a Brit is frustratingly inconsistent.
in church = engaging in worship
in the church / at the church = not engaging in worship
in prison = serving time
in the prison / at the prison = not serving time
in hospital = in-patient
at the hospital = not an in-patient
but
in the hospital = ambiguous, could mean in-patient when a specific hospital is understood from context
in school = not used
at school = either “is a student by occupation”, or “is a student who is currently physically at their school”
in the school / at the school = physically there, not a student (or could be student when physical location is critically emphasized)
No it isn’t. The first digit, “tens of days,” comes first but isn’t the smallest (least significant) digit. The smallest digit, single days, comes second. Then tens of months. The largest digit, the millennium digit, is fifth out of eight. Singleton years come last. It’s utter nonsense.
Written as numeric value = significance, we have:
Euro: 21-43-8765
American: 43-21-8765
Both trash. The right and proper form is:
8765-43-21
Which is also the ordering of significance for just about everything else in a left-to-right language.
I don’t think this is true. I’ve taught a number of Brits or others who learned British English and heard them say
Down at heel
In future
At source
At table
I’d always (I think) use a “the” in all those phrases.
It would be normal for me to say 23rd August
I tell the time by saying 20 past 5 or whatever the case might be
Mind you, it also acceptable, although less common to say 5:20
lick road clean with tongue
I agree with Digger11. But that is to my ears. Certainly 23 August sounds weird, but I would say it like you the 23rd of August.
And University.
But it does sound a bit jarring “I am going to go to hospital” or “He went to University” like there is only one.,
I’ve read this multiple times, and only now does it register that by “NL” you meant “Netherlands” and not “Newfoundland and Labrador”! I kept thinking, “I didn’t know they grew tulip bulbs in Newfoundland!” Of course, I have never been there, so I really don’t know how possible that is.
Sounds normal to me… It is quite usual in Southern Ontario to say something like, “The kids are off to university in the fall! Joe is going to Western, and Abi is going to Waterloo. We are so proud of them!”
When I interview clients, my notes tend to carry the Russian standard: 25-IX-23, which translates as 25 September, 2023. But those are my notes, and I understand them, and they’re confidential anyway, so nobody else has to.
I used to drive a truck years ago, and the shorthand we used in radio communications was fascinating. “I’m on Ontario one-seven ee-bee at K-marker 518, ETA White River at about 2000, fuel fifteen, ETA Sault Ste. Marie 2215. Will update more exact as happens.”
Translation: “I’m on Ontario one-seven [Ontario Highway 17] ee-bee [eastbound] at K-marker [kilometer milepost] five-one-eight [518], ETA [Estimated Time of Arrival] White River at about 2000 [“twenty-hundred,” or 8:00 PM], fuel [stop for] fifteen [minutes], ETA Sault Ste. Marie 2215 [“twenty-two fifteen” or “two-two-one-five” for clarity, or 10:15 PM]. Will update more exact as happens.”
Practically inexplicable to the average person, but certainly understandable to my contact. As long as everybody understands what is going on.
Same with dates. Unless you state “put date in format MM-DD-YY or DD-MM-YY or YYYY-MM-DD” or similar on your form," you’re going to get responses that are all over the place. A so-called “international standard” won’t help–just look at how many people in Canada ignore the international metric “standards” they’re supposed to adhere to, and still cite their height in feet and inches, their weight in pounds, and their football fields and golf courses in yards. Hell, Canadian horse racing still takes place in yards, miles, and furlongs, of all things. Not that I mind; as a horseplayer, I know a “12-clip” in racing–but trying to impose an “international standard” just upsets those who are used to traditional ways, and makes them look unfavourably on the “new” ways.
I don’t understand the point of adding the offset. I mean, what if there are people across the country who need to attend an online meeting. The offset is only going to apply to those in a specific time zone. Why add it at all?
And if the point is that it’s only used for communication among people in a single time zone, it makes even less sense to add the offset. Just use the local time and a designator. Hell, in this case, it’s not even on September 23rd for the locals, it’s September 24th. I can see how someone would get confused.
Do you know why specifically they add the offset like that? Since it isn’t helpful inter/intra-nationally, and it really isn’t helpful locally, why add it at all?
You want really wild, though? In the military, we use a Date Time Group (DTG).
It’s DD HHMM Z mmm YY
Two digit day of the month, 24hour time, time zone designator, three letter month, two digit year. 
So right now, I’m writing this at 281146BSEP23
What I really hate about the time zone designator is that for some reason, everyone in the Army wants to use “L” to denote “Local” Time. For fucks sake, man, “L” is UTC+11. The catchall designator for “local” is supposed to be “J”.
It’s more than just a pet peeve. When I was stationed in Alaska and we were planning a jump into Australia, the only way to figure out what time people were referring to was from context! Alaska should have been “V” designator. Australia should have been “L” designator. Instead, everything was marked “L”, including the stop for fuel in Hawaii. 
Asked and answered. The offset is relative to UTC. Unlike “L”, it’s not ambiguous.