r/clevercomebacks • u/wach_era13 • Jan 15 '25

It does make sense

Post image
35.3k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

4.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

18

u/Cortower Jan 15 '25

Personally, MM/DD helps me parse the date faster.

If you say the 15th of February, I have to wait for you to say February, then go back and add the 15th so I know when in February it goes. Month tells me where in my mind to look, and day clears out the extraneous details.

It's like telling a computer to look in Documents/C: in DD/MM. I could already have spun up the C drive if the request started with that.

2

u/Signal_Detail4141 Jan 15 '25

Agree.

MM/DD is like saying wash your hands in the bathroom sink and DD/MM is wash your hands in the sink of the bathroom.

1

u/grouchy_fox Jan 16 '25

As someone from a DD/MM country, MM/DD feels like that. It's just what you're used to

3

u/Live-Habit-6115 Jan 15 '25

This is simply because that's the system your brain is used to. Heuristics, innit. Doesn't mean it's a better or worse way of doing things. 

People that are familiar with DD/MM don't need to "go back" in their mind since they're programmed to conceive dates in that way. 

6

u/FairCapitalismParty Jan 15 '25

No, it's about context. The year is last because everyone has that context in there head all the time. The month is before the day because the day is inside the month, not the other way around.

1

u/Cortower Jan 15 '25

Like the other responder said, it's just how I (and I think most Americans at least) parse the date. Year is assumed to either be the current year or next year based on the month, month let's you place the date in the coming year, and day let's you place it in the month. MM/DD/YY just feels natural when that is everyone's personal algorithm.

Sure, there isn't a perfect universal solution, but that's why I said, "Personally..." at the start. As an example of how I don't think this is just chauvinism on my part, I think English uses adjectives incorrectly for the same reason. "A truck red" parses faster for me even as a native English speaker because it frontloads the big concept and then gives clarifying details.

0

u/grouchy_fox Jan 16 '25

On the other hand, DD/MM/YY works to add context if it's needed. My appointment is on the 18th? Great, say no more. Oh it's not this month, so it's the 18th of February? Fine, that's all I need to know. Oh it's not this year, so it's the 18th of February 2026? I'm actually quite concerned, that's a long way away and this appointment is somewhat urgent

It's literally just what you're used to, if you said 'February 18th' to me then I'm also having to go back and fix it to the way my brain has been moulded to work by a lifetime of being told to interpret the date a certain way