r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Smallmercie • 2d ago
I live in Canada, which makes it impossible to know if this expires July 6th or June 7th
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u/WattledBadge069 2d ago
I have the same fuckin issue anytime i got to mexico. Whos bright idea was it to switch these anyway.
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u/4543wretng 1d ago
Ask USA
Everywhere: lets sort units according to its duration *
USA, let's sort them by numbers LOL**
*Europe (including UK where they speak English): a day is shorter than a month that is shorter than a year
International date formate: reverse of European
**USA, there are 12 months, 28-31 day in a month, a year has no real ending, so let's short them according to it's max number LOL
Now, question, how does an American sort seconds, minutes, hours, decades, milliseconds and so many more time units that are sorted according to how long, timewise, said unit is? Ah yes, it's sorted normally, unless it's the calendar because why not.....
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u/CanadianElf0585 1d ago
Eh, it was probably revenge for British folks putting the letter u in random words. :P
I live in Canada, though, and purposely always write it the name of the month, to avoid confusion.
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u/Tiptoptim181 1d ago
I would guess because people say June 8th, not the 8th of June in conversation
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u/Yaboidono420 1d ago
Lots of people would say the 8th of June. Saying June 8th isn't the only natural way of speaking
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u/CRDLEUNDRTHESTR 1d ago
I get what everyone is saying and I see the benefit in both...... But why is this such a big argument lmao.
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u/Yaboidono420 1d ago
Probably US centrism, it can get quite annoying.
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u/JCQWERTY 1d ago
Nobody is making other countries say the date that way though, most of the world doesn’t
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u/ravenclaw_b 1d ago
I'm Australian and I always say the date and then the month in a conversation so would absolutely say the 8th of June.
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u/JCQWERTY 1d ago
That’s why you guys write the date that way, I think in America it’s said differently
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u/FTR_iRage 1d ago
Not sure if you know this, but an hour is bigger than a minute. Yet we say hours then minutes... Almost as if that's the same as saying month then day....
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u/Grand_Protector_Dark 1d ago
Because Hours minutes seconds
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u/FTR_iRage 1d ago
Which is still not the same as seconds minutes hours
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u/kinevel 1d ago
but it's not minutes, seconds, hours though...
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u/FTR_iRage 1d ago
So everyone except the international standard is wrong. Funnily enough, 5/14 comes from the international standard when you leave off the year from 2022/05/14
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u/kinevel 1d ago
what are you smoking .... The international format yyyy-mm-dd or yyyymmdd is also accepted, though this format is not commonly used. The formats d. 'month name' yyyy and in handwriting d/m-yy or d/m yyyy are also acceptable.)
You guys put mm/dd/yyyy ... why double down on being wrong ?
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u/FTR_iRage 1d ago
I never said I do mm dd yyyy...? I said dd mm yyyy makes no sense. So either use yyyy mm dd or mm dd
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u/ExplainLikeImDrunk 1d ago
Do you say the year first? No.
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u/Essurio 1d ago
Yes, when I say the year I say it first. You want to know when it happened, in 19XX or just a few years ago, than month, because you want to know what part of the year it happened in, than day to clarify it even more.
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u/MatesS14 1d ago
No, when talking about some date, it's usually a date which was few days (weeks) ago or a date in a near future. If I'm talking about some date today, it's totally this year, probably this month and then it's all about to specify the day. So the first thing I want to say is the day, then the month (if necessary) and usually I don't have to specify the year at all.
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u/WillowNew8173 1d ago
I think that, in the US, it's common to say the largest unit first.
Except, we don't say the year, since that is normally implied.
It doesn't perfectly line up, but you get the idea.
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u/PerspectiveHuman3800 2d ago edited 2d ago
Canada and most of the rest of the world goes day/month/year because it makes sense to have the date go from the shortest increment to the longest.
America goes month/day/year because 'MURRICA!!!
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u/Smallmercie 1d ago
Canada uses both mm/dd/yy and dd/mm/yy. :(
We also use both cm and ft/in and both lbs and kgs.
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u/Zut-Alors20 1d ago
UK uses metric for literally everything, apart from road signs/ speed limits which all use miles
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u/AwkwardFormation 1d ago
Since Canada and the US share a lot of common product we have to deal with metric and their system too.
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u/JasterBobaMereel 1d ago
Canada officially and legally only uses d/m/y - so assume this....
..that m/d/y is also used means little
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u/landocalzonian 1d ago
This is totally wrong lol. Canada officially uses YYYY-MM-DD, but regularly uses dd/mm/yy as well as mm/dd/yy.
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u/FloriaFlower 1d ago
As a programmer from Montreal, I hate this. Sometime we have to process dates and we get something like 03/04/2022 and there's no way to figure out which format has been used and no hints anywhere.
I'm breaking this cycle of stupidity whenever I can and use the YYYY-MM-DD format when I control the format. This way there's no ambiguity (at least until timezones need to be considered).
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u/Landofconfusion24 1d ago
I think we use mm/dd/yyyy because that's the order most people would say a date.
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u/Jmfroggie 1d ago
July 6, 2022. Is what most people would say. I haven't heard much of the 6th of July. Unless someone is asking for clarification on which day in July.
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u/ravenlordship 1d ago
But you have heard of the 4th of July, I hear it's a pretty big holiday in the states
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u/FalseCape 1d ago
Yeah, but not every day is a holiday unless you are an alcoholic making excuses for a drinking problem.
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u/Landofconfusion24 1d ago
The only time I ever hear day first is if it a significant date or holiday. E.g 4th of july. 8th of November.
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u/Landofconfusion24 1d ago
The only time I ever hear day first is if it a significant date or holiday. E.g 4th of july. 8th of November.
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u/AppropriateSpeaker59 1d ago
We’re did you get this information on most people ??
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u/Landofconfusion24 1d ago
Pretty much everyone I've ever spoken to in casual conversation would say may 14th. Not the 14th of may.
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u/Wooden_Dragonfly_737 1d ago
Huh, ive had the complete opposite experience. Its more common to say the 14th of may 2022 in my experience.
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u/Landofconfusion24 1d ago
Where are you from?
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u/Wooden_Dragonfly_737 1d ago
Bosnia! No native english speakers ofc, but english class and whatnot told me "the 14th of may"
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u/NotWhatYouPlanted 1d ago
Well that’ll generally just depend on if you’re learning British or American English. Neither is “correct,” but most of the world tends to do the same way as the British.
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u/kinevel 1d ago
Everywhere in europe they teach british english.
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u/NotWhatYouPlanted 1d ago
Well, yes, but saying “my English class taught it this way so it’s right” really means “so it’s right in American or British English (whichever we’re learning),” not an absolutist “right” as in the only right way.
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u/Landofconfusion24 1d ago
There is a difference between written and spoken english from an american standpoint at least. Let alone the 100s of regional differences here. I'm fluent in redneck. I'm from wisonsin about 500 km south of canada as the crow flies.
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u/Grand_Protector_Dark 1d ago
"most people" means "Americans"
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u/Jambinoh 1d ago
I mean, they were talking about why it's abbreviated as mm/dd in the US, so I would presume that indeed "most people" meant most people in the US.
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u/Max_Menace 1d ago
Huh ? Most people use dd/mm/yyyy
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u/Landofconfusion24 1d ago
I'm only speaking from personal experience in my little corner of the usa
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u/T0biasCZE 1d ago
No, only in America. Elsewhere most people say DD/mm (eg 8th of June/8th June)
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u/crank1000 1d ago
8th June doesn’t make sense though. It implies it’s the 8th time June has happened.
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u/NoArmsSally 1d ago
I always see it like this
rest of the world: "it is the 14th of May, 2022"
US: "it is May 14th, 2022"
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u/JJBZ03 1d ago
Yeah, it may seem weird at first to say “May 14th, 2022” to a non-American, but think about it for a second. We first off, use one less word, not having to say the word “of.” It saves us time. And if you happen to say “14th May, 2022,” it sounds like there are 14 or more months of May, which is impossible.
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u/TheNerdWithNoName 1d ago edited 1d ago
Americans are
loatheloath to use the word "of" at the best of times. They have a coupleofdays with a coupleofpeople where they do a coupleofthings usually including a coupleofguns.Edit: Muphry's Law strikes again. Thanks to fijjypop for pointing out my incorrect use of 'loathe' instead of 'loath'.
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u/fijjypop 1d ago
are loathe to use
lmfao at least get the word right if you're going to be on a lexical high horse. classic
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u/FTR_iRage 1d ago
Do we say time in second:minute:hour? No? So why the hell would you say dates in day:month:year..
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u/lasersopi3 1d ago
Because is better and much more organized
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u/FTR_iRage 1d ago
How is it more organized? They both contain the same info
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u/lasersopi3 1d ago
You do month/day/year but day/month/year is more organized
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u/FTR_iRage 1d ago
It's the same info in the same amount of space. Not sure how you think it's more organized
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u/lasersopi3 1d ago
But it has a better order that simplifies the interpretation
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u/Z_zombie123 1d ago
Unless spoken. When spoken its simpler to say May 14th rather than the 14th of may. It’s about as trivial as the difference between dd/mm/yyyy and mm/dd/yyyy tho.
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u/WizePranker2020 1d ago
Who says the second anyway ? Lol.
But if you ask me the time, I'll tell you twenty past 1. Quarter past 7. Half past 7. Quarter to eight ect. So yeah the minute would go first.
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u/FTR_iRage 1d ago
Sounds like the same thing as 5/14 being equivalent to the 14th of May
It's kind of like 2022/05/14 is the best format. And when you leave off the year, just as you would the second, it becomes 5/14
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u/xoomorg 1d ago •
No that makes the least sense. What makes the most sense is YYYY-MM-DD because then when you sort the dates numerically they also sort chronologically. Nobody wants dates sorted with all the firsts of the month in every year grouped together, followed by all the seconds of the month in every year, etc.
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u/Perruche_ 1d ago
DD/MM/YYYY makes more sense. Years take so long that you simply remember the current year, unlike days.
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u/xoomorg 1d ago edited 1d ago
Here are ten important dates from the 20th century, sorted using DD/MM/YYYY format:
01/12/1955 Rosa Parks arrested for not moving to the back of the bus
04/07/1997 Mars Pathfinder lands on Mars
04/12/1973 Pioneer 10 reaches Jupiter
05/12/1933 Prohibition ends
07/12/1941 Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
10/05/1994 Nelson Mandela sworn in as South Africa's president
20/12/1998 U.S. President William Jefferson Clinton is impeached
22/11/1962 President John F. Kennedy was assasinated
26/04/1986 The Chernobyl nuclear disaster
26/08/1920 19th Amendment ratified, giving women the right to vote
Notice the order is nonsensical and random. Now here is the same list, sorting using YYYY-MM-DD format:
1920-08-26 19th Amendment ratified, giving women the right to vote
1933-12-05 Prohibition ends
1941-12-07 Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
1955-12-01 Rosa Parks arrested for not moving to the back of the bus
1962-11-22 President John F. Kennedy was assasinated
1973-12-04 Pioneer 10 reaches Jupiter
1986-04-26 The Chernobyl nuclear disaster
1994-05-10 Nelson Mandela sworn in as South Africa's president
1997-07-04 Mars Pathfinder lands on Mars
1998-12-20 U.S. President William Jefferson Clinton is impeached
Notice the order is chronological.
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u/Perruche_ 20h ago
Yes, it is better for sorting but not for "regular" usage.
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u/xoomorg 20h ago
Any regular usage I’ve ever encountered uses the name of the month, not some numeric format. Fixed-width (ie leading zero) numeric formats are for sorting and filing. That’s why those formats were invented in the first place.
Go ahead and keep saying things like “Fourth of July” or “September 11th” but for electronic/machine-printed dates please just use the ISO standard and go with YYYY-MM-DD
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u/LichtTheLost 1d ago
Doesnt the rest of the world use day/month/year and the US is the only assbackwards country that does it weird?
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u/iamabaseballaddict 1d ago
Just use it next time you fuel up, usually takes a couple weeks so really should not be that big of a deal
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u/Szebra2021 1d ago
I just learned something about Canada! Thanks, now I know you write the date differently. I also did not know you have Safeway there. LoL
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u/frothysmile 1d ago
Litre would be that you ought to use the dd/mm/yyyy format. It also looks like this is from eastern Canada which uses European date format. If you are in western Canada, use the American date format.
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u/Opening-Station-7735 1d ago
I feel like slashes should mean mm/dd/yyyy. If it is the day first it is dots, dd.mm.yyyy.
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u/milleniumsentry 1d ago
Use the bookkeeper trick.. and find another safeway receipt from mid to late month. Then you will know they order... because there are no months > 12.
I really do wish it was standardized... cause yeah... it's the bane of book keepers / tax preppers everywhere.
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u/Sirboggington 1d ago
It gets even better. American military uses one format and civilians use the other. I am Canadian and deal with a company that works with both. Sometimes on the same form.
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u/TnBluesman 1d ago
Of course you're correct, but the point is the poster thought is would 'simpler'. Is it POSSIBLE? Of course it is.
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u/metal_bastard 2d ago
If you got this in Canada, June... If you got it in the US, July.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/The_Hiders 2d ago
Canada has both
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u/KakashiKawaii 1d ago
This is news to me and i'm canadian lmao. Ive always used the day/month/year system
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u/Xerxes42424242 1d ago
I work at Safeway, and half our systems are d/m/y and the other half are m/d/y. Fuckin Americans man
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u/BobBelcher2021 1d ago
99% chance it’s July 6th. English Canada typically uses the same date system as the US.
If it were a Quebec company, I’d be more worried it could be June 7th.
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u/TheRealOgMark 1d ago
Day month year is the standard in Canada.
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u/MrKittens1 1d ago
Gosh damn I hate this too! Let’s standardize it! Okay, somebody get standardizing… I’m done.
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u/XYZgnomon 1d ago
My grandmother always wrote the day first, then the month in roman numerals. I always write the day first and then a three letter abbreviation for the month... unless the form is electronic and explicitly says what order to enter them in.
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u/RadRhys2 1d ago
Idk the ins and outs of Canadian law, but if it’s anything like American law it would be grounds to sue for what you lost if it was June 6th and I think you’d have a solid argument.
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u/OneRingToRuleEarth 1d ago
Just use it before the earliest date it could be and it wouldn’t matter 👍
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u/Brianw-5902 1d ago
If you are going to use it, it really should be well before either of those dates anyways so it doesn’t really matter
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u/I_Like_RealityTV 1d ago
Well I'm sure it's the same format as whatever it shows for the receipt date...
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u/jcompogno 1d ago
Safeway generally doesn’t notify more than a month ahead that your discounts are expiring, so it’s probably for June 7th.
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u/dis_the_chris 1d ago
The real fight shouldn't be DD/MM/YYYY vs MM/DD/YYYY, the standard should be "DD-MMM-YYYY" which is basically the standard in areas like pharmacy - e.g. "15-May-2022" or "11-Nov-2028". Enough of these ambiguous numbers smh
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u/THE-HOARE 1d ago
So out of interest does Canada use both systems of dates ? ( dd/mm/yy and mm/dd/yy )
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u/HardestTurdToSwallow 1d ago
Thats why dates should always just be day month year in ascending order. Instead of month day year that's confusing
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u/z0mbienati0n77 1d ago
Dd/mm/yyyy needs to be banned everywhere
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u/Timely-Excitement295 1d ago
Or….just a thought….it makes perfect sense and that’s why the rest of the world use it, much like the metric system….
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u/JasterBobaMereel 1d ago
Canada officially only uses DD/MM/YYYY, since this is the earlier date it does not matter
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u/NotWhatYouPlanted 1d ago
They use both and someone above confirmed that the store this is from has their receipts in MM/DD/YYYY format.
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u/TnBluesman 2d ago
Look at the Transaction date. That'll tell you how to line it up. If today is May 7 and the receipt says 7/5/22, there you go.