this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2023
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The American system is kind of weird in some ways, but on the other hand it's just writing it the way we say it out loud. December 12, 2023.
Do Europeans say it out loud the other way since you write it that way? 12 of December, 2023 for example.
Edit: It does sound like basically everyone writes it the way they say it out loud. Language is an interesting thing! Thanks for the insights everyone.
In the UK most folks would say it "12th of December", prioritising the day of the month over the month...
Which begs the question, why prioritise saying the month first?
The day is going to have much more of an affect on the average person's day to day life than what month it is, so it feels natural to prioritise stating the day first.
I don't think it's that deep, it's just how we say it over here. People do sometimes say it the other way, too, it's just less common. If someone is just talking about a date in the same month we're currently in we usually just say the number without the month (the 12th). It's interesting to hear it really does seem to mimic the way people say it out loud in every case so far in these replies!
Well if we're talking day to day life, when I ask someone what day it is, they're not going to say "It's December 12th 2023". They're just gonna say "The 12th" because it's true the month doesn't really matter day to day.
I think the only time people use the full date is on like official forms where the month is more relevant. Also this is America, we don't care about average people's day to day, just businesses and money and cheeseburgers
In German we also say it in the order as we write it.
12.12.2023 Zwölfter Dezember 2023 Zwölf = twelve ter = th
We say 12th December. Sooo yeah....
In Britain you could say it either way round and nobody would care. Except we tend to say *'twelfth' * rather than *'twelve' * but yeah, totally normal thing to do here.
We actually say twelfth, too, at least where I'm from, though we almost always just write the number, not the spelled out version.
In Russia we absolutely say "12th of December, 2023".
12 декабря 2023.
Shouldn't there be a года at the end?
Optionally, to be more formal.
In regular conversations it is often left out
Yep, in Dutch we'd say "het is 12 December 2023". When talking about dates I also say "it's the 12th of December 2023" in English, but that's probably a bit weird for English speakers.
It's not weird for the British
I don't think it's weird, it just sounds a little more formal.
As an American (California native, living in the Midwest for the last decade), it's not that weird. I hear people using "December 12th" and "12th of December" with about equal frequency. Written, though, "December 12th" is more common, and if you're just using the numbers, everyone will assume the month is first.
It's not weird, it's correct
Yes, saying "December 12th" sounds incredibly American to the point I can't read it not in an American accent.
Dane here to add that we say it tolvte December 2023 with tolvte meaning twelveth. Saying it the other way around would basically only happen if you forgot to specify the date or add it as an afterthought.
"Det er desember den tolvte" (norwegian) sounds weird
You can say two fewer words with the American version. “It’s December 12th” compared to “it’s the 12th of December”.
you don't have to say the and of can just get reduced to the point it's almost not even said
You can also just say it’s the 12th since basically everyone knows what month it is when they ask the date!