I’ve been meaning to mention this for a while, but now seems like an especially good time:
I hate when people refer to a date with a numeral for the month instead of actually saying the whole name of the month.
“My next dentist appointment is on ten-three”.
And especially, the ubiquitous “Nine-eleven”.
I don’t have a really good reason. And it only bothers me when spoken. It just seems, well… lazy. And it makes me cringe every time I hear it.
How much more effort would it take to just say “October” or “November”. Doesn’t a date deserve more respect than just a number? To my mind, when a newscaster refers to “the tragic events of nine eleven”, it seems like he’s blaming the numbers nine and eleven for what happened that day.
Not to mention possible confusion with citizens of other countries who put the day first, not the month. Are you talking about July 5 or 7 May?
Anybody else agree, or should I just try to forget about it and move on to the next mundane thing that bothers me?