st, rd, nd and th
 

Days of the week.

Here in Canberra and also in general in Oz I have noticed that people don't say the 1st of march or the 23rd of July.... they say June 21 - or February 1.

Why is this?

Does anyone else find this strange?

Re: st, rd, nd and th
 

Not sure I've noticed that.

What I find strange is when filling in electrocnic address forms why is there a box for STREET NAME then another for STREET TYPE?

So if your street is Smith Street you have to enter BOX1: Smith BOX2: Street.

Usually BOX2 has some drop down list with everything conceivable in it; Street, Avenue, Mews, Approach etc.

That I find strange.

Re: st, rd, nd and th
 

I have - I think it is very much the same as in America.
I find myself inwardly adding the st, rd etc, every time I hear someone doing it!

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As far as writing dates go, the norm here is definitely DDMMYY just like the UK. Only in the states is the norm MMDDYY. Maybe more and more people nowadays say the date like they do in the US (September 11?) but I don't believe it's that common.

The drop-down Street Type Boxes are for data consistency. You would not believe the number of ways people would spell 'avenue' if they had to enter it themselves ;). If addresses are to be matched up it's even more important that the correct abbreviation or spelling is used.

Re: st, rd, nd and th
 

Facet of data entry I'm guessing. Might even be easier to data match.

Re: st, rd, nd and th
 

I was told it crept in after September 11th but it was before my time here, so can't verify.

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Yeah I think so too - it isn't that they say the month and then the day or the day and then the month it is that they don't say the 1st or the 23rd - it just becomes 'one' or 'twenty three'

Re: st, rd, nd and th
 

Yeah I've noticed this too and it really bugs me. I just finished studying my Primary Teaching degree in Brisbane last year and on my placements that's the way my mentor teachers would write the date on the board for the kids.

'Wednesday, February 11' etc...

I have wondered over and over if this was some strange thing I'd missed as EVERYONE in the schools I worked at did it!

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Ordinal numbers still do exist ;) as we did them for homework last year....I've not noticed the date thing, but probably will now lol!

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Can't remember when this date thing started, but it was a good few years ago. Was started by the business community.

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Quite baffling . .

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It's probably down to that evil bastard Bill Gates and his infernal Word :mad: :D

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I hate it - bugs the heck out of me. I have tried a one man campaign to get the ordinal restored but to no avail. I wont go into the other pet bugbear of our local news - the prissy voice with inappropriate abbreviations - the cops, in the champs, the firies etc Why on earth can they not speak proper English?

Re: st, rd, nd and th
 

yep I noticed it at xmas when we were having a drink with the neighbours - i find it strange - hi to sasbear will be sending mobile number to pass around in a min - Maria and Graham xx

Re: st, rd, nd and th
 

Must be a teacher thing Q :lol:

No worries - how's it all going?

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Great thanks - woke up ill today so decided to take a sick day instead of suffering at work - love having the break I will get all the washing done instead of doing 50 loads at weekend lol :D - but disappointed tho - was gonna flex off to have my hair done this afternoon - oh well never mind

Re: st, rd, nd and th
 

Snap! Me too - at home and done the same -washed, ironed and cleaned - but still have a dicky

and OMG I am at the haridressers at 5.15 - weird

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Me too. :curse:

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yes very spooky that is lol - I dare nt go cuz I was going for something very different so people will notice tomorrow maybe I will book in tomorrow afternoon - off out after work with my work mates from my old job so maybe better that way anyhow :D

ok I off to get tidyed and ready for pinic with Kimberleys new teacher - oh joy lol - hopefully see you very soon for another meet up xxx

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saying half 10 normally bemuses

Re: st, rd, nd and th
 

Oh no, you've really noticed that?!:(:(

That is the American way of saying dates - hence the reason they write the days back to front. I spent some time teaching English in an American English school, and it used to drive me mad.

I knew Australians were turning into Americans, but it's sad that so many people are saying dates that way that you've noticed it.

I hate how American we're becoming.:(:(

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This drives me NUTS...

..and I find it difficult to beleive that anyone form the UK hasnt noticed it!:confused: - Its so 'in-yer-face' Amercian.... YUCK....

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Yup, I hate it too!

My Aussie ex suffered from cultural cringe, brought up on a diet of wall to wall American TV....anything Aussie was instantly decried as sh!t.

Also used to use terms like sidewalk, daiper.....and my personal favorite (sic)......'crosswalk'!

Ooooh it used to rile me up.......:curse:......hence the ex bit! :rofl:

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Took me ages to get used to it and I still refuse to say it that way. We have to write it that way at work though, I used to get all my official reports rejected on the grounds that I had written the date wrong. Took ages till someone told me it was cos I was putting 1st, 2nd etc.

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Nowhere in my experience, in Melbourne, has anyone dropped the road type unless people are talking about the main arterial streets in the CBD - flinders, etc which given they have entered into the lexicon is a non-issue.

Everywhere else, everyone I know and come into contacts with, mentions and writes the road type.

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I have never seen January 23 and even if I had, it would not bother me - report writing is supposed to be succinct and standardised. However in prose or the spoken form, which might lend itself to traditionalism, it might raise an eyebrow. There are fashions I suppose - I'm sure there are people who remember and prefer the B.B.C to BBC.

That great bastion of Western democracy, the British Army, used to employ and teach 'service' writing and dates were often written like this: 12Jul04. Quite nasty really.

Just a thought, in an email, or report I would never write 1st, or 2nd - to me that would be overkill and a tad bloated and a bit strange in a business context. I write it like this 2 January 2006. Noone contests that.

It's the ABC approach - Accuracy, Brevity and Clarity.

I'm quite glad that people can adapt to change and not rely on habit, as it means that my wife is bilingual as are my children. And I now discover to my amazement, that my wife has picked up French - literally just like that and is further along in weeks than some people would be in years. Lucky girl!