# Why MM/DD/YYYY? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 22, 2002, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503 "2002-03-22T06:07:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Orval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@Orval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orval)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/1 "2002-03-22T06:07:52Z")
Why, in the USA, do we use MM/DD/YYYY when most of the world uses DD/MM/YYYY? The latter seems to be more logical, but I could never give up the former. Someone help. ---
**Author:** ![sim0n](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@sim0n](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sim0n)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/2 "2002-03-22T06:19:02Z")
I get a lot of Techno and House DJ sets off of the net- a lot of which are from Europe, and I can never tell which is the month or the day if both are 12 or under. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/3 "2002-03-22T06:20:07Z")
The only really logical format is YYYY/MM/DD, which I came to understand after working with computer files. As to the OP, Americans write the month first because after all we’re used to speaking it that way. Today is March 22, 2002. That’s the way that feels natural and easy to say. I have heard a few BBC types who will say “Twenty-second March” out loud, but to my ears that sounds affected and slightly bizarre. It also sounds (logically) like the 22nd in a series of Marches, like “This is the 22nd March since 1980 that there hasn’t been a snowfall!” ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/4 "2002-03-22T06:24:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sim0n \* > \*\*I get a lot of Techno and House DJ sets off of the net- a lot of which are from Europe, and I can never tell which is the month or the day if both are 12 or under. \*\* The old-fashioned Continental Europeans had a good habit, which was always to write the month in Roman numerals and the rest in Arabic numerals. That way you would understand with no ambiguity that 3.III.33 meant the third of March, (19)33. Jomo Mojo 2002.III.22 ---
**Author:** ![Orval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@Orval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orval)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/5 "2002-03-22T06:35:32Z")
Thanks guys. I found this thread [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=73191&highlight=dd%2Fmm%2Fyyyy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=73191&highlight=dd%2Fmm%2Fyyyy) right after I started mine. YYYY/MM/DD may be logical for some applications, but for day to day living it is a bit long winded. I find myself asking what day it is far more than what year. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/6 "2002-03-22T07:06:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*As to the OP, Americans write the month first because after all we’re used to speaking it that way. Today is March 22, 2002. That’s the way that feels natural and easy to say. > > I have heard a few BBC types who will say “Twenty-second March” out loud, but to my ears that sounds affected and slightly bizarre. It also sounds (logically) like the 22nd in a series of Marches, like “This is the 22nd March since 1980 that there hasn’t been a snowfall!” \*\* Interesting. Around here, it appears most people would say, “today is the 22nd _of_ March 2002”, which fits the format 22/03/2002. Sounds pretty natural to me. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/7 "2002-03-22T07:08:12Z")
This is from memory, so please allow that. I recall reading that the country we now call the United States conformed to standard dating practices for most of its early years. The U.S. method of dating things can be traced to one single document that was reprinted multiple times: July 4, 1776. That one document set a standard that is still in use. ---
**Author:** ![Tsubaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Tsubaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tsubaki)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/8 "2002-03-22T07:09:43Z")
Today in Japan, its H14.3.22 The fourteenth year of the reign of the Heisei emperor, the third month, and the 22nd day. There’s a bit of useless trivia for you! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/9 "2002-03-22T08:43:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*I have heard a few BBC types who will say “Twenty-second March” out loud, but to my ears that sounds affected and slightly bizarre. It also sounds (logically) like the 22nd in a series of Marches, like “This is the 22nd March since 1980 that there hasn’t been a snowfall!” \*\* That’s because they omit the word _of_ “The 22nd _ **of** _ March” makes perfect sense, but like you said, you say it your way, we say it ours. It’s not unlike the difference between saying “eight twenty” and “twenty past eight”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/10 "2002-03-22T08:47:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*The only really logical format is YYYY/MM/DD, which I came to understand after working with computer files. > > \*\* Interestingly enough, this is, in fact, the way Hungarians write their dates. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/11 "2002-03-22T08:48:19Z")
This is also a huge problem in computer programming; for example there are situations in which Microsoft access will get confused if the day is less than the 13th (or it does here in the UK; is suspect if your local time format is the same as the US standard, it will work fine - I believe that part of it is that in SQL, dates are supposed to be mm/dd/yy regardless of who or where you are). ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/12 "2002-03-22T09:10:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pulykamell \* > \*\* > (Deleted nested quote - Silly system!) > Interestingly enough, this is, in fact, the way Hungarians write their dates. \*\* The YYYYMMDD system is also used in Sweden. And as it is the ISO standard (number 8601-2000) I use it whenever I can, wherever I am. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/13 "2002-03-22T10:09:53Z")
**Mangetout** , if you set your database server’s regional settings to dd/mm/yyyy, _and_ make sure your ODBC connections are set to “British English” rather than just “English”, you can, in fact, store and retrieve dates in that format in MS SQL server. I forget the exact steps required to do the same for Access, but, if beaten, threatened and abused in the right manner, it too can be made to comply. (Thus sayeth Steve, who has devoted significant portions of his life to getting dates out of American format and into databases.) ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/14 "2002-03-22T10:22:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > **I have heard a few BBC types who will say “Twenty-second March” out loud, but to my ears that sounds affected and slightly bizarre.** I’m fairly sure BBC types don’t actually say this: they would say “Twenty-second _of_ March” - which makes perfect sense to my (English) ears. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/15 "2002-03-22T10:37:27Z")
I think **Jomo** may have been referring to Americans who have adopted British affectations, rather than British natives. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/16 "2002-03-22T10:54:16Z")
In Britain, the date is written “22 March” or “22nd March”, but if you read that aloud you would say “the twenty-second of March”. In speech, “March the twenty-second” would be acceptable but, oddly enough, to write “March 22” would be regarded as an Americanism. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/17 "2002-03-22T12:15:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*I believe that part of it is that in SQL, dates are supposed to be mm/dd/yy regardless of who or where you are). \*\* The default format for SQL is set by the database system administrator. The last system I used had MM/DD/YYYY set. There’s also a MM/DD/RR format, where the RR is interpreted as being either in the 1900’s or the 2000’s, depending on another system administrator’s setting. Before Y2K (remember that?), we used 25 as the dividing line; i.e., RR=25 to 99 meant 1925 to 1999, and 00 to 24 meant 2000 to 2024. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/18 "2002-03-22T12:55:42Z")
Thanks for the SQL everyone, but I’m not using a server back-end at the mo; just the MS Jet engine, which (as far as I can tell) is not very configurable. I don’t do much developing in Access/VB nowadays anyway as my current company favours Delphi/Interbase. ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/19 "2002-03-22T13:42:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*As to the OP, Americans write the month first because after all we’re used to speaking it that way. Today is March 22, 2002. That’s the way that feels natural and easy to say. > \*\* Then surely the **Fourth of July** breaks this rule. Any idea why? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503/20 "2002-03-22T14:07:41Z")
It’s called an _exception_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-mm-dd-yyyy/99503.md?page=2)