# How do you express dates? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 31, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983 "2011-12-31T21:56:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SDMBKL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdmbkl/32/7297_2.png) [@SDMBKL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SDMBKL)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/1 "2011-12-31T21:56:39Z")
Choose an option from the poll. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/2 "2011-12-31T22:28:04Z")
You forgot CE/BCE. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/3 "2011-12-31T22:33:20Z")
Sometimes I have to sort dates, so I’ve gotten into the habit of writing them “year, month, day.” So today would be 20111231. This is, of course, for my own use, since most people would have trouble deciphering it. ---
**Author:** ![Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bag_of_mostly_water/32/1029_2.png) [@Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bag_of_Mostly_Water)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/4 "2011-12-31T22:53:29Z")
Whenever possible, I use a format defined in [ISO 8601](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601). ---
**Author:** ![nicole1912](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9de0a6/32.png) [@nicole1912](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicole1912)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/5 "2011-12-31T23:02:41Z")
Other - you missed Day/Month/Year, which is how (most?) people in Europe write the date. (Though I would use AD/BC, if referring to historical dates. Maybe I should have selected that option too.) ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/6 "2011-12-31T23:08:10Z")
yyyymmdd for sorting - this is how I label photos so they’re always in order. For general use, dd/mm/yyyy. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/7 "2012-01-01T01:55:08Z")
It depends on language being spoken, amount of information being conveyed and context; the rule of thumb is “whatever I am required to do or believe will convey the information best”. AC/DC (in Spanish those acronyms are not about electricity, they stand for “_antes de Cristo/después de Cristo_”, literally meaning “before Christ/after Christ”… I’m sure the band members would get a kick out of it); BC/AD; (day of the week) day (month); (day of the week) (month) day; year, month, day (day of the week)… Sometimes the context/amount of information is given implicitly (so far I haven’t run into anybody stupid or sleepy enough to ask whether my graduation date was BC or AD; on the other hand, when I give a date more than 50 years away it’s likely only the year), sometimes it’s required by the company for which I’m writing. I’ve had at least two customers which wanted every document dated in two separate languages, one formatted YMD day of week and the other one day of week, day (of/,) month, year. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/8 "2012-01-01T01:56:31Z")
Day/Month/Year AD/BC ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/9 "2012-01-01T02:04:24Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Sometimes I have to sort dates, so I’ve gotten into the habit of writing them “year, month, day.” So today would be 20111231. This is, of course, for my own use, since most people would have trouble deciphering it. I do this all the time when naming documents at work, so that they’ll sort in alphabetical order. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/10 "2012-01-01T07:52:38Z")
day / month / year ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/11 "2012-01-01T08:06:22Z")
dd-mmm-yyyy ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/12 "2012-01-01T08:50:59Z")
Day/month/year. I don’t usually deal with BC dates. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/13 "2012-01-01T09:18:29Z")
Day/month/year. I’m fairly sure it’s only Americans that do it backwards. Does anywhere else on Earth do it the US way? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/14 "2012-01-01T09:36:35Z")
As it’s evening in the Antipodes, I’m sure you will be getting a lot of “other,” namely dd/mm/(yy)yy. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/15 "2012-01-01T09:42:01Z")
> [@SDMBKL](#): > > Choose an option from the poll. I use zero and negative years. 0 CE == 1 BCE. -1 CE == 2 BCE, etc. Eliminates the ridiculous discontinuity at year 0. As for dates, yyyy/mm/dd, of course. mm/dd if the year is contextually obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/16 "2012-01-01T09:47:44Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > Day/month/year. > > I’m fairly sure it’s only Americans that do it backwards. Does anywhere else on Earth do it the US way? As BoMW noted, yyyy/mm/dd is the only usable format, and is defined by ISO 8601. It sorts correctly because the digits are sorted in decreasing significance–just like every other number. As it happens, it matches the American system slightly better than the Euro one–it is the same if you leave the year off. No subset of the Euro format matches any sensible system. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/17 "2012-01-01T11:02:55Z")
For me, it’s dd month yyyy by default. (For example, I’d write today’s date as 1 January 2012.) I’d add AD or BC if I was referring to some historical event where I felt the clarification was necessary. And I’d use yyyymmdd format if I was sorting things on a computer and wanted to get them in chronological order. ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/18 "2012-01-01T11:20:57Z")
Christ? Wasn’t he crucified and buried? Oh… placed in a cave with a rock for a door. He was dead, though, right? Oh, I see, you’re not sure. So, usually, burying pretty much means he’s dead, right? Oh I see, the cave was there and nobody was looking. Well, I agree if your crew was out all night drinking and didn’t feel like digging a hole… Well, to just throw the guy in a cave… We’ll be hearing a lot about this! What if someone lives in that cave!? You’re not sure?! ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/19 "2012-01-01T11:46:29Z")
Mostly 01/01/2012 and 201201 for many historical extracts from Oracle DBs. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983/20 "2012-01-01T11:46:49Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > As BoMW noted, yyyy/mm/dd is the only usable format, and is defined by ISO 8601. It sorts correctly because the digits are sorted in decreasing significance–just like every other number. > > As it happens, it matches the American system slightly better than the Euro one–it is the same if you leave the year off. No subset of the Euro format matches any sensible system. First of all, I’m Australian, and that’s a very long way from Europe. Now, when I do need to put the date is numerical order, I do it backwards: yesterday was 111231 Doing it the way everywhere except the USA does it, it’s the exact reverse: yesterday was is 31/12/11. That **is** the sensible way of doing it. The US version only “matches” the numerical-order way if you leave a third of the date out, as you say yourself. What’s today’s date? Today is the first of January, 2012. Smallest to largest. Starting with the middle, then going to the smallest, and then the largest? _That’s_ your idea of sensible? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-express-dates/607983.md?page=2)