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Off topic: Writing the date in British English
Thread poster: inkweaver
Jennifer Forbes
Jennifer Forbes  Identity Verified
Local time: 06:23
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In memoriam
"Word" automatically adds the ordinal to dates ... Feb 16, 2010

Russell Jones wrote:

Samuel Murray wrote:

I think "15 February 2010" (without the "th") is most common, but I'm not British.


Absolutely right Samuel, at least as far as business and official documents are concerned. I don't think anyone would suggest that 15th was actually a mistake in less formal contexts though.


I agree with you, Russell (and Samuel). It's perfectly OK in UK English to put "15 February 2010" instead of "15th February 2010", but Microsoft Word automatically puts in the ordinal "th", "st" or "rd" when dates are typed in a Word document using the UK English language setting. (I'm not saying that Microsoft necessarily knows best - far from it!!).
I think the teacher of Inkweaver's daughter ought to be consistent regarding which kind of English she is teaching - either completely American or completely UK. I certainly don't think the child made a mistake in her homework in this instance.
Best wishes,
Jenny.


 
JaneD
JaneD  Identity Verified
Sweden
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Too many systems! Feb 16, 2010

inkweaver wrote:

My daughter came home from school yesterday and told me about her English test. They were supposed to write the date, which should have been "February 15th, 2010" but she wrote "15th February 2010".

TIA.


I would also write "15th February 2010", as I always feel the number looks naked without the ordinal, although I appreciate that this is not strictly correct.

I can just about cope with the US version - 2/15/2010, because when you say the date you would often say "February the 15th 2010".

But here in Sweden there is yet another date format, which, frankly, still confuses the wossnames off me - the same date here would be 10/02/15. This is apparently the approved format according to ISO 8601, but I must confess that it takes me a good minute to work out what the sell-by date for something means!


 
Lesley Clarke
Lesley Clarke  Identity Verified
Mexico
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Spanish to English
I'm getting old but Feb 17, 2010

I was taught to write in the date with the ordinal in primary school. 15th February, so it isn't totally wrong, but I will bow to the superior knowlegde of the Oxford Guide to Style.

 
Madeleine MacRae Klintebo
Madeleine MacRae Klintebo  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
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Not just in Sweden, the international standard Feb 17, 2010

janed wrote:

But here in Sweden there is yet another date format, which, frankly, still confuses the wossnames off me - the same date here would be 10/02/15. This is apparently the approved format according to ISO 8601, but I must confess that it takes me a good minute to work out what the sell-by date for something means!


But, if I'm correctly informed, it's only used in Sweden and North Korea


 
JaneD
JaneD  Identity Verified
Sweden
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Well, quite! Feb 18, 2010

Madeleine MacRae Klintebo wrote:

But, if I'm correctly informed, it's only used in Sweden and North Korea


I wouldn't be surprised if nobody much used it. Still, even two countries makes it international to an extent!


 
British Diana
British Diana
Germany
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German to English
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a long time ago..we used slashes and "steps" Mar 11, 2010

When I was at school in England a long time ago, we usually abbreviated the date using slashes, e.g. today would be 11/3/2010.

When we wrote it out we used to write things like 11th March (and also 1st, 2nd, 3rd of course). To make it more complicated, the "th" was very small and put in the top half of the space. I don't know how to do this on a keyboard - and perhaps that is one reason why the ordinal numbers are now no longer customary.

It reminds me of how writing
... See more
When I was at school in England a long time ago, we usually abbreviated the date using slashes, e.g. today would be 11/3/2010.

When we wrote it out we used to write things like 11th March (and also 1st, 2nd, 3rd of course). To make it more complicated, the "th" was very small and put in the top half of the space. I don't know how to do this on a keyboard - and perhaps that is one reason why the ordinal numbers are now no longer customary.

It reminds me of how writing addresses on letters has become more simple. In the 60's we had to do it like this:

John Bloggs, Esq.,
---------13, Cyclamen Avenue,
------------------Harpic,
----------------------------Yorkshire.

(I'm having to use these rows of dashes otherwise the system realignes everything)

Well, perhaps the last full stop was not compulsory, but certainly the flight-of-step-like arrangement was.
Is there anyone out there who can endorse what I am saying?

[Edited at 2010-03-11 20:08 GMT]
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Caroline Lakey
Caroline Lakey  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 07:23
French to English
Yes, I remember "stepped" addresses Mar 12, 2010

I can remember being taught to address an envelope in the first year juniors (year 3 these days!) in the UK in about 1981, and the address had to be stepped. We were onto Mr John Smith rather than John Smith Esq. by then, although I can remember my Dad receiving letters addressed to Roger Lakey Esq. when I was little. I'll have to ask him whether he still does!
When we wrote the date we put the "th" in, but it didn't have to be raised above the line. My Mum's still teaching in the UK, a
... See more
I can remember being taught to address an envelope in the first year juniors (year 3 these days!) in the UK in about 1981, and the address had to be stepped. We were onto Mr John Smith rather than John Smith Esq. by then, although I can remember my Dad receiving letters addressed to Roger Lakey Esq. when I was little. I'll have to ask him whether he still does!
When we wrote the date we put the "th" in, but it didn't have to be raised above the line. My Mum's still teaching in the UK, and apparently practice over the last 2 years in her experience is 12 March in state schools but still 12th March in independent ones!
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XXXphxxx (X)
XXXphxxx (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:23
Portuguese to English
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Times change... Mar 12, 2010

I was taught 15th February 2010, no 'of' or 'the'. These days this is more commonly written as 15 February 2010 certainly in typed text/official documents, putting the month before the day is also creeping in spoken language but to my knowledge is certainly not common usage in the U.K., although I give that about 10 years...

 
Erik Freitag
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Germany
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Member (2006)
Dutch to German
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Reason for indentation? Mar 12, 2010

British Diana wrote:

It reminds me of how writing addresses on letters has become more simple. In the 60's we had to do it like this:

John Bloggs, Esq.,
---------13, Cyclamen Avenue,
------------------Harpic,
----------------------------Yorkshire.



[Edited at 2010-03-11 20:08 GMT]


I'd really like to know the rationale behind that!


 
inkweaver
inkweaver  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 07:23
French to German
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TOPIC STARTER
Addresses Mar 12, 2010

British Diana wrote:


It reminds me of how writing addresses on letters has become more simple. In the 60's we had to do it like this:

John Bloggs, Esq.,
---------13, Cyclamen Avenue,
------------------Harpic,
----------------------------Yorkshire.



[Edited at 2010-03-11 20:08 GMT]


I do remember that my British pen friends used to write addresses like this in the late 1970s and early 1980s.


 
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Writing the date in British English






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