# Attention European Embassies in America: Use American Style Dating on Your Official Notices! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 7, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945 "2012-09-07T02:49:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/61 "2012-09-08T17:40:26Z")
Although I like using a written month abbreviation myself, when communicating overseas, should we use: January, or Enero, Janvier (OK, that one works), Gennaio, Januar, or Styczeń. The advantage of a numerical format (and I lean to YYYY/MM/DD) is it needs no translation. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/62 "2012-09-08T17:48:13Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > I was gonna have a go at debunking this but given what I found in google when looking up asian dating, I may be a long time. There’s an “I’ll be in mah bunk” joke in there somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/63 "2012-09-08T17:54:00Z")
Forget the date format for a minute… I wish we (in the USA) would move to the 24-hour clock. It’s so much easier, it’s faster to write and faster to read, and allows no room for error (like when people leave the AM or PM off because they assume it was obvious). And it gets rid of the whole 12:00 PM / 12:00 AM conundrum when referring to noon / midnight. Oh yeah… the metric system too. Don’t most Americans have a good enough grasp of what a kilogram, kilometer, and liter are that it wouldn’t be difficult to switch? ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/64 "2012-09-08T17:59:50Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > I was gonna have a go at debunking this but given what I found in google when looking up asian dating, I may be a long time. “Kraut dating” by comparison gives remarkable fewer Google hits. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/65 "2012-09-08T18:03:41Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > “Kraut dating” by comparison gives remarkable fewer Google hits. But the ones you do get - hoo boy! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/66 "2012-09-08T18:20:24Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Although I like using a written month abbreviation myself, when communicating overseas, should we use: > > January, or Enero, Janvier (OK, that one works), Gennaio, Januar, or Styczeń. > > The advantage of a numerical format (and I lean to YYYY/MM/DD) is it needs no translation. Use what’s appropriate for your audience. This isn’t some huge dilemma. I don’t believe there are many, if any, situations in which your all-numbers format would actually be useful. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/67 "2012-09-08T19:56:38Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Indeed. YYYY-MM-DD, I refuse to use anything else… Do you speak that way? _“I’ll stop by on the Thursday after next… 2012 Oh-Nine Twenty.”_ Honestly? I’ve been hammering into my students’ heads that if a headline doesn’t sound like something someone would say, in the most common idiom, it’ll sound false and no one’ll believe your article/advert. Everyone I’ve ever heard would say _“I’ll stop by on September Twentieth”_. Are there people (some Brits?) who’d say _“I’ll stop by on Twenty September.”?_ If they’re from the UK, they’d probably add “I’ll knock you up then!” just to add to the confusion… > [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > I think the most reasonable, long term solution is for the USA to crush all of Europe under our imperialist bootheel and reduce them to a vassel state status, thereby eliminating the problems of incorrect dating systems, the metric system and drivng on the wrong freaking side of the road. Soon, they wil all learn that life is much smoother if you do things the way we tell you in the first place. There’s a political party in the U.S. that you might be interested in… you’d fit right in! ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/68 "2012-09-08T20:23:12Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > P.S. I can use the word Kraut because I am one. By the way, we really need newer ethnic slurs for Germans. Kraut is just lame. Strudelfuckers? Poland botherers? High-quality-of-life-enjoying-strong-industrial-output-cunts? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/69 "2012-09-08T20:39:58Z")
We respond to my dad’s pronouncements with “Ya, der Master Race has schprechened!” Often followed by some pretty funky goose-stepping. ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/70 "2012-09-08T22:55:24Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Everyone I’ve ever heard would say _“I’ll stop by on September Twentieth”_. Are there people (some Brits?) who’d say _“I’ll stop by on Twenty September.”?_ If they’re from the UK, they’d probably add “I’ll knock you up then!” just to add to the confusion… I doubt anyone anywhere says 20 September. I’m an Aussie so dates are said in various ways: September 20, September 20th, 20th of September. 20/09/2012 is the most common way of writing a date. Oh yeah and we spell colour properly too. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/71 "2012-09-08T23:48:29Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Everyone I’ve ever heard would say _“I’ll stop by on September Twentieth”_. Are there people (some Brits?) who’d say _“I’ll stop by on Twenty September.”?_ If they’re from the UK, they’d probably add “I’ll knock you up then!” just to add to the confusion… I always hear “I’ll stop by on the twentieth” if the actual month is understood. If it’s in doubt, the construction is always “I’ll stop by on the twentieth of September”. Which supports DD/MM/YYYY format. Despite the MM/DD/YY format. YMMV. > [@](#): > > There’s a political party in the U.S. that you might be interested in… you’d fit right in! Democrats??? ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/72 "2012-09-09T00:06:28Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Although I like using a written month abbreviation myself, when communicating overseas, should we use: > > January, or Enero, Janvier (OK, that one works), Gennaio, Januar, or Styczeń. > > The advantage of a numerical format (and I lean to YYYY/MM/DD) is it needs no translation. That’s it! Everybody, we’re all switching to the metric system _and_ to Esperanto! And Stardates! ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/73 "2012-09-09T00:12:38Z")
Seriously? The Fourth of July isn’t an American date? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/74 "2012-09-09T00:19:16Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Seriously? The Fourth of July isn’t an American date? Yes – it’s the day between July 3rd and July 5th. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/75 "2012-09-09T00:19:51Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Seriously? The Fourth of July isn’t an American date? "IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. "The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, “When in the Course of human events…” (But then, the Constitution is dated “the Seventeenth Day of September”, so there’s that.) ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/76 "2012-09-09T00:42:28Z")
Of course if she is sucking on the german taxpayer’s teet she should be obliged to present herself to the authorities wearing leiderhosen and promise to use said funds only to maintain a stockpile of sausage and sauerkraut! This would avoid any future potential for misunderstanden und spitz und sparken! ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/77 "2012-09-09T02:54:10Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Forget the date format for a minute… I wish we (in the USA) would move to the 24-hour clock. It’s so much easier, it’s faster to write and faster to read, and allows no room for error (like when people leave the AM or PM off because they assume it was obvious). And it gets rid of the whole 12:00 PM / 12:00 AM conundrum when referring to noon / midnight. Then you’ll have some people complain if someone writes down “0530” or “1700” instead of “5:30” and “17:00” because there’s no reason civilized civilians should do it that way 😉 And we could always tick people off on both sides of the aisle by referring to noon as “12:00M” … (hey, AM = ante meridiem, PM = post meridiem, so the midpoint should be plain meridiem… right?) ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/78 "2012-09-09T07:01:46Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Then you’ll have some people complain if someone writes down “0530” or “1700” instead of “5:30” and “17:00” because there’s no reason civilized civilians should do it that way 😉 > > And we could always tick people off on both sides of the aisle by referring to noon as “12:00M” … (hey, AM = ante meridiem, PM = post meridiem, so the midpoint should be plain meridiem… right?) Absolutely right, but it’ll be Never Twelfth before we get everyone to understand. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/79 "2012-09-09T12:39:17Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Everyone I’ve ever heard would say “I’ll stop by on September Twentieth”. Are there people (some Brits?) who’d say “I’ll stop by on Twenty September.”? If they’re from the UK, they’d probably add “I’ll knock you up then!” just to add to the confusion… Hoi, we’ve known to avoid that phrase [since Darwin’s time](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Knock+on). > [@Online Etymology Dictionary](#): > > Knocked up in the United States, amongst females, the phrase is equivalent to being enciente, so that Englishmen often unconsciously commit themselves when amongst our Yankee cousins. [John Camden Hotten, “The Slang Dictionary,” London, 1860] Though I can see there’d be a problem with European dating if that were the case. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945/80 "2012-09-09T16:06:06Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > Did it say 10.8.2012 or 10/8/2012? Because the latter is not how we format a date in German, and this alway tips me off that the MM/DD/YYYY format is being used. An important point that I don’t think has been addressed in later posts. 10.8.2012 would be unambigously the tenth of August (the misunderstanding to be laid at the OP’s door), and 10/8/2012 would be unambigously the eighth of October (the German consulate being at fault). In any case, dealing with intercultural ambiguities is the business of consulates, so obviously they should have spelled out the month. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-european-embassies-in-america-use-american-style-dating-on-your-official-notices/633945.md?page=5)