How many times have you seen a date written as 03/02/04 and wondered which was which? The last one is usually the year, so that's not always a problem. But the month and day seem to switch, and that's because Canada and US have different systems. US uses mm/dd/yy, and Canada supposedly uses dd/mm/yy. Canada's system is more logical, because it is in order (days<months<years). People need to stick to our system, or use the abbreviated form of the month (ie, Sept., Apr.) whenever possible!

   

That's always confusing to me too. But I see it from another angle.

When it's spoken one says "June 4th, 2005" not "4th June 2005" so I prefer the American version. Different strokes.

   

the m/d format is another one of those american formats that they refuse to change. d/m is used by the rest of the world, just like the metric system

   

That's true; from what I could find on the subject, if the month is spelt out (June 4, 2005), you put the month first (as you would speak it), but if you're using the numbers (04/06/05), you should use ddmmyy.

   

Ya know what? I've finally got an easy way to remember now. Say one thing and write another. Thanks!

   

This is the Canadian standard... I'm just saying we need one system. Now, the shorthand notation always requires the explanatory (mmddyy) right after it, which defeats the purpose.

You say "seven-teen" in the opposite order of how you write it as 17, but that doesn't confuse people.

   

I try to use the Canadian/World standard whenever I can