The UK Date format being replaced by the US style.

pp111 · 22 Nov 2020 at 15:55

We can't really talk. We founded many of the weird units the USA uses and then messed our own up by half implementing the Metric.

Grimley · 22 Nov 2020 at 16:46

Paper size is another one, You try getting A4 in a Yank shop. I ran an art competition on behalf of a school a few years back. The paper size had to be just less than A2 & A3 was too small. I even gave the school the correct size paper but it wasn't used for the entries. So nearly all the entries were on A3, which meant they were all disqualified, even though I told the school what the paper size must be. I'd've got a better response out of brick wall, so I told the school that was the last time & there wouldn't be a competition the next year. I complained to the organisers that here in limeyland we use the ISO 216 Standard of paper sizes and that getting the entries on the paper size required would be difficult. The organisers were having none of it & refused to change the rules, so I told them 'politely' :mad:

what to do with their art competition.

DB_SamX · 22 Nov 2020 at 16:57

benjii said:
I'm not a fan of the US format at all, I like ours. For most business and education applications though, I think ISO 8601 is the superior format: 2020-11-20

Ooh never knew that iso and been using that format for years! Yes, vindicated. Makes sorting in alphabetical order a breeze.

kaiowas · 22 Nov 2020 at 17:01

potatolord said:
The us dating system just isn't logical.

Isn’t it based on their version of rounders?

Nasher · 22 Nov 2020 at 17:03

Who came up with the US way. The month first makes no sense at all.

Hagar · 22 Nov 2020 at 17:04

pp111 said:
We can't really talk. We founded many of the weird units the USA uses and then messed our own up by half implementing the Metric.

I agree, a chain is 22 yards as is a cricket pitch, there are 1760 yards in a mile and eight furlongs also make up a mile so there are 220 yards in a furlong or ten cricket pitches.
There are 16 ounces in a pound, 14 pounds make a stone, 112 pounds make a hundredweight. But a pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter meaning there are 20 fluid ounces in a pint. A gill is a quarter of a pint or four fluid ounces. So the old Scottish measure of a quarter gill is one fluid ounce.

Life was so much simpler before kilograms and meters.

Squark · 22 Nov 2020 at 17:09

Either ascending or descending size order only; the American system is dumb.

Brizzles · 22 Nov 2020 at 17:12

pp111 said:
We can't really talk. We founded many of the weird units the USA uses and then messed our own up by half implementing the Metric.

What is confusing about ' 2 pounds of apples costs 2 pounds ' ?

V F · 22 Nov 2020 at 17:15

My favourite part of the UK is how they copy so much of America's ways and yet the UK has the cheek to insult their culture. That's the funniest part, considering a time there was no such thing as prom limo nights in the UK.

Hagar · 22 Nov 2020 at 17:21

V F said:
My favourite part of the UK is how they copy so much of America's ways and yet the UK has the cheek to insult their culture. That's the funniest part, considering a time there was no such thing as prom limo nights in the UK.

Thank God. What a moronic thing.

Scam · 22 Nov 2020 at 17:26

robfosters said:
I’ve come across quite a few idiots over the past 19 years or so who thought the twin towers were attacked on the 9th November

It annoyed me immensely when it started getting called "9/11". It still does, but you can't really complain about it when that whole, ya know, awful terrorist atrocity comes up in conversation..

Nasher said:
Who came up with the US way. The month first makes no sense at all.

With my longtime dealings with Americans I've figured out that they just have an inane desire to do things differently. They make up words, sayings when there really is no reason for it. Case in point, have you ever eaten in a restaurant with an American where they order something off the menu without changing something? They're physically incapable. "I'll have the burger please, with no mayo and extra gherkins". It's crazy, they don't even know they're doing it...

Terminal_Boy · 22 Nov 2020 at 17:29

The Septics do seem to take “Not invented here” syndrome to another level.

V F · 22 Nov 2020 at 17:30

Scam said:
With my longtime dealings with Americans I've figured out that they just have an inane desire to do things differently. They make up words, sayings when there really is no reason for it. Case in point, have you ever eaten in a restaurant with an American where they order something off the menu without changing something? They're physically incapable. "I'll have the burger please, with no mayo and extra gherkins". It's crazy, they don't even know they're doing it...

Can't blame them. UK has really old fashioned ways and thinking. "We've always did it this way."

benjii · 22 Nov 2020 at 17:38

DB_SamX said:
Ooh never knew that iso and been using that format for years! Yes, vindicated. Makes sorting in alphabetical order a breeze.

It certainly does. I had to sort through a bunch of invoices that only had dates as names, written as "22 Nov" etc. Nightmare.

pp111 · 22 Nov 2020 at 18:13

V F said:
My favourite part of the UK is how they copy so much of America's ways and yet the UK has the cheek to insult their culture. That's the funniest part, considering a time there was no such thing as prom limo nights in the UK.

I wish we wouldn't. The Americans tend to do these sort of things much better than we do them and so to my mind they should stay American. Kinda seems a bit second rate when we copy them.

V F · 22 Nov 2020 at 18:15

pp111 said:
I wish we wouldn't. The Americans tend to do these sort of things much better than we do them and so to my mind they should stay American. Kinda seems a bit second rate when we copy them.

We've been copying most of them for decades but we usually do a half arsed job at it.

Rofflay · 22 Nov 2020 at 18:35

Americans can not even do English properly nevermind dates!

englishpremier · 22 Nov 2020 at 18:53

Isn't it because there are so many 'idiots' that believe everything they see on American TV. Then even start pronouncing words incorrectly. 'Schedule' is a prime example. As are phrases such as "just saying" ('just saying' what? The fact that they have said something already expressly implies that that have 'just said it'), and "Let me just grab something real quick."

It's worse when UK based websites like the Royal Mail then use US CAPTCHA. Any people in the UK then have to pick out a 'cross walk' or something else daftly American.

V F said:
Can't blame them. UK has really old fashioned ways and thinking. "We've always did it this way."

With language, normally it's the opposite. Former colonies tend to speak in a more old fashioned way. This is certainly the case in the US where they still used old English words that fell out of favour in the UK. It's same when you see Spanish particularly Chliean and compare it to Castellano.

builder22 · 22 Nov 2020 at 19:39

Solder is a good one - Americans say sawder

Blackjack Davy · 22 Nov 2020 at 19:48

Shadowness said:
It only becomes stupid when they do it like 11/20/20

(only that date is obvious. It's when its dates like 5/6/20......is that May or June?!)

Its beyond irritating and even worse when you spell it right way and the ever present yanks on the site tell you you're dong it wrong...

but its just whats happening just like "math" appearing everywhere even in classrooms... its mathS FFS! Plural. We also adopted the american billion at some point since I was a kid.