Any dates written either month/day or day/month confuse the hell out of me (e.g. 6/8.) To be honest, I don’t even know which of the two systems we use here in Canada. So whenever I write the date on something, I always write out the month name, plus the day (e.g. June 8.)
Because saying what you said is no less racist. You apparently view Americans as not worthy of their cultural heritage. You think someone born to German parents somehow is no longer allows to consider themselves German. What you said would be like some former slave telling modern black people they can’t say the word “nigger,” as it was never used against them.
And, also, I’d guess by the fact that she used “N-word,” you’ve at one point used that word incorrectly, or, at least, someone with a similar username has.
EDIT: the fact that you think someone whose parents are from Germany is racist against Germans is fucking ridiculous.
And most people–in the U.S.–at least, don’t know there is a YYYY-MM-DD convention, since we don’t use it. If you know the convention being used, any system seems logical.
Hence why people are saying you should include a word for the month. Unfortunately, they forget that different languages would use different letters.
it’s easier to check a dictionary than to try to differentiate between 10/08/12, 08/10/12, 12/10/08, 12/08/10 …
I think any bureaucrat who produces a memo or other document in Language A but writes the date in Language B is just being malicious for the sheer hell of it.
*Dear Sir:
Your application for a visa to allowing you to enter Croatia for your extremely urgent and important trip is hereby approved. Please come to the Croatian Consulate-General at 123 Elm Street on the first day of Siječanj, being sure to bring with you a government-issued photo ID. Please be advised that the visa will ONLY be available on the first day of Siječanj–the second day of Siječanj or the last day of Prosinac are both right out–so be sure to be at the Consulate as early as possible on that day.*
Whoa, calm down. It’s not that I think children of German immigrants are ‘not worthy’ of their cultural heritage. But that’s all it is, heritage – they are not German.
Just like if an American moves to England and has kids, those kids (and certainly any grandkids) are not in any meaningful sense American - they are British.
pdts
If the language was ENGLISH then the format is dd/mm/yy so therefore correct by your statement
I can say Kraut to Krauts because I’m Danish and being racist towards Krauts is part of my cultural heritage and anyone wanting to deny me that right is a horrible anti-Danish racist.
I admit I have a soft spot in my heart for computers, but if we can all agree on a format that is unambiguous and works well for both computers and people, wouldn’t that be the Best Of All Possible Worlds?
Oh, bollocks. If there is anyone in the US who doesn’t know that dates are sometimes written YYYY-MM-DD they’re probably not ready to be handling their own affairs. In fact, I’m looking at a stack of (American) medical records on which all the dates are written that way right now.
Only when it’s convenient!
This debate is still going on? Check this out: “It was the third of September.” Those are Americans speaking!
(Some will contend this was an aberration due to poetic license, but that claim holds no water. With such a license the date itself could have been changed to yield, e.g., It was August the ei-eight. I shan’t forget that da…ate.)
I don’t understand your point. There’s nothing uncommon, unusual, or remarkable about “the third of September.” That’s irrelevant to the question of what “3/9” means to an American.
Which is?
Are you pulling my leg?
…explained on the first two pages.
I thought you meant the date September 9 held some specific significance when I read your post. Sorry.
I suspect the vast majority of German Government documents are in German. So, the document is already NOT printed the way they print all other documents. They had to translate it. The goal of translating is to make the document easily understandable to the target audience. That should also include changing the date format, so that IT is easily understandable to the target audience.
Using a European style date format when communicating, in English, to a US resident, is a clear example of failing to fully translate the document for full comprehension by your target audience.
Or possibly September 3. :smack:
Maybe it was a gotcha à la the scene from Inglorious Basterds with the confusion how to sign “three” - meaning “If you’re German (and therefore deserving of our money) you will understand the date correctly…”