this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2026
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It makes sense with spoken English. You say March 3rd not 3rd March. You could say 3rd of March, but it's a bit uncommon
I get the increased efficiency of ddmmyy in a number based format, but it's not hard to see how it evolved the other way from the language
But why do US-Americans say March 3rd? The British don’t. They prefer 3rd of March. And the USA loves their 4th of july…
You are right we do still say 4th of July, but usually we tend to just prefer a different format when talking about everyday things. I'm going to visit on July 15th, I have an appointment May 12th, etc. This is much more natural in American English. Saying the "12th of May" just sounds overly formal. Which is fine for a holiday, but not everyday speech.
So I guess the question is when did this shift between American and British English occur in relation to the creation of our dating formats.
I assume, like most things English, Americans kept the language more or less the same while the Brits shifted how they use the language. The European languages that are spoken in the Americas haven't changed much since colonization while the Europeans have been changing their languages drastically in the past 4 centuries
If you are Yoda.
Yea makes total sense - so you'd go for the logical yyyy-mm-dd format then, to fit with how you speak the date? Right? 😅
I've never met an American English speaker that says today is 2026 March 3rd. They would say today is March 3rd 2026. If the year is included at all, usually it isn't and is understood.