Happy once-in-a-century Pi Day!

[Kyriakos]

It doesn't, I agree. What does make sense is yyyy/mm/dd. Because then you can nicely order your documents without having to rearrange the date thing. Not that it matters, of course. Just that it would make more sense to put the bigger numbers on the left just like we do with normal counting. But we totally don't have to.

In my diaries, which survive since 2006 iirc, i just write the year in the first entry of that year, and then only day number and month, until the year changes again

Offices likely just keep documents (or they used to back when they did not have by law to use computers for cataloguing) in huge dossiers, with the year or year+month written on the cover.

 

[Traitorfish]

It doesn't, I agree. What does make sense is yyyy/mm/dd. Because then you can nicely order your documents without having to rearrange the date thing. Not that it matters, of course. Just that it would make more sense to put the bigger numbers on the left just like we do with normal counting. But we totally don't have to.

They'll tend to use yyyy/mm/dd in most technical contexts, yeah; it's basically just the most rational way to order it. The dd/mm/yyyy we use in the UK isn't quite as sensible, and also doesn't plug directly into "hours-minutes-seconds", but at least it's a straight reversal of the rational ordering, at least it has the same progression from end to the other other; "mm/dd/yyyy" doesn't really make any sense expect that it sort-of-mirrors the American colloquial "month-day, year" spoken/prose format.

 

[Hygro]

Well, first, the British do, the clue was "unnecessarily stuffy". But second, I'm talking about the "mm/dd/yyyy" format; it's just wonky. Month, then date, then year? That doesn't make any sense.

Nonsense, the more staid time signifiers month and year shield the more transient signifier, day, from the harshness of the world.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Nonsense, the more staid time signifiers month and year shield the more transient signifier, day, from the harshness of the world.

Months and years are like good parents for the little days.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

How does it make no sense? It's March 14th. Who says "14th of March"? That seems unnecessarily stuffy.

Some people do. Certainly Julius Caesar was told to beware the Ides of March, and we all know what happened when he failed to heed that advice.

No, English in general. March 14th is the only proper way to say it. "14th March" sounds like broken English.

It sounds like there were 13 marches that happened before. Depending on whether you're talking about military maneuvers or music, that's an awful lot of marching.

You don't have to write things down the exact same you say them - for example when naming file folders I will format my dates like this: year - month - day - because that sorts everything properly and makes the most sense.

Stardates. Today is 1503.17 (Happy St. Patrick's Day!).

Well, first, the British do, the clue was "unnecessarily stuffy". But second, I'm talking about the "mm/dd/yyyy" format; it's just wonky. Month, then date, then year? That doesn't make any sense.

That's normal. My birthday is June 9 (advance notice to anyone who might think of surprising me with a birthday thread ). For CFC purposes the year is irrelevant, but I get asked this question quite often on forms.

 

[Traitorfish]

That's normal. My birthday is June 9 (advance notice to anyone who might think of surprising me with a birthday thread ). For CFC purposes the year is irrelevant, but I get asked this question quite often on forms.

I'd say that there's a difference between "month-day" and "mm/dd", though. In speech and prose, "day-month" and "month-day" are pretty much interchangeable, you're just throwing out the month and the day in whatever order comes naturally, while "dd/mm/yy" and "mm/dd/yy" suggest some sort of administrative or technical function, so at least from the outside, lining them up out of order just seems messy.

That said, Warpus is right, "yy/mm/dd" is the only really defensible one from a utilitarian standpoint; the British system is basically as wrong as the North America system from a utilitarian standpoint, it just doesn't seem quite so wilfully wrong.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I'd say that there's a difference between "month-day" and "mm/dd", though. In speech and prose, "day-month" and "month-day" are pretty much interchangeable, you're just throwing out the month and the day in whatever order comes naturally, while "dd/mm/yy" and "mm/dd/yy" suggest some sort of administrative or technical function, so at least from the outside, lining them up out of order just seems messy.

That said, Warpus is right, "yy/mm/dd" is the only really defensible one from a utilitarian standpoint; the British system is basically as wrong as the North America system from a utilitarian standpoint, it just doesn't seem quite so wilfully wrong.

This supports my assessment of Europeans and North Americans. We work at being wrong so we can follow in the footsteps of our European brethren, for whom it just comes naturally.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Some people do. Certainly Julius Caesar was told to beware the Ides of March, and we all know what happened when he failed to heed that advice.

Roman reckoning was entirely different.

You would never name a day by counting up how long it has been since the start of any month.

Instead you state if it is the Kalends, Nones, or Ides of the month, or else count down how many days are left before reaching the next of those fixed days.

The Kalends is of course the first day of month, but the Nones could be either the 5th or 7th and the Ides could be either the 13th or 15th.

(It is thought that Kalends originally indicated a New Moon, Nones a waxing Half Moon, and Ides a Full Moon.)

For the entire second half of a month, you would have to state the date using the name of the following month.

Romans usually did abbreviate dates, so the Idea of March would usually be written "Id. Mart." instead of "Idus Martis."

Today would be "a.d. XVI Kal. Apr." or "ante die sextum decimum kalendas Aprilis."

Romans counting was inclusive, so the day before the last day in March would be "a.d. III Kal. Apr." The last day of a month would just be "Prid Kal. Apr." or "Pridie Kalendas Aprilis" meaning "the day before the Kalends of April."

 

[Mise]

Pi day is 22/7. I have to say this every year. Except for on 22th July, when I just don't care because what is the point in all of this?

 

[Kyriakos]

Pi day is 22/7. I have to say this every year. Except for on 22th July, when I just don't care because what is the point in all of this?

It tries to reach the Logos of 22/7, but due to always being unable to Pi gets all over the place. Much like the element of Fire, according to Heraklitos.