| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: How do you generally write all-figure dates? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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To avoid any kind of confusion, I write 2 April 2016 whenever possible.
If it absolutely cannot be avoided... actually, I can't think of a situation where that was the case. It would only be if I had to enter numbers into a form, and then I'm told DD/MM/YYYY or MM/DD/YYYY.
So none of the above, I guess. I always write out (or abbreviate) the month.
| | | | yinnyann 
Spain
Local time: 18:45
English to French
+ ...
| Computing logic applied | Apr 3, 2016 |
Jessica Noyes wrote:
(...) However, I changed the way I date (and name) my own work files not long ago, so that the chronological and numerical values are consistent: yyyymmddhh (h for hour due). The advantage of this is that even if the computer program is not aware that these are dates, it will order them properly every time.
So do I. It's a little bit complicated at the begining, but when one gests used to it, results in a better workflow.
[Edited at 2016-04-03 01:07 GMT]
| | | | Balasubramaniam L.
India
Local time: 22:15
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
I first thought this poll was about what date format one uses in one's translations, but after reading Sheila's clarification, I understand this is more about the date format one uses in one's personal records.
I grew up using the dd/mm/yyyy format which we inherited from our colonial masters of yore, the British. This was what I used to use, until computers came. Since computers have been invented and promoted by the Americans, and most software we use are written either in Americ... See more I first thought this poll was about what date format one uses in one's translations, but after reading Sheila's clarification, I understand this is more about the date format one uses in one's personal records.
I grew up using the dd/mm/yyyy format which we inherited from our colonial masters of yore, the British. This was what I used to use, until computers came. Since computers have been invented and promoted by the Americans, and most software we use are written either in America or by Americans (many of them of Indian origin!), the date format used in these is mm/dd/yyyy.
This can cause a lot of confusion and even disasters. For example I might enter the date 4 March 2016 in my excel sheet as 4/3/2016. But mysteriously it will convert itself to its native format 3/4/2016 following the mm/dd/yyyy format. Later when I would open the excel sheet and see this date, I would assume that it is in my familiar dd/mm/yyyy format and take it to be 3 April 2016!
This can have disastrous consequences in financial matters, as I once learnt to my immense discomfiture. One excel sheet that I maintain is for reminding me when to pay my LIC (Life Insurance) premiums. This confusion in date format made me miss the due date of one premium by several months and I had to pay a heavy penalty to resurrect my policy.
I now follow the explict date format of 3 April 2016 - that is, with the month name fully spelt out in so many letters - so as not leave any room for any type of confusion. ▲ Collapse
| | | | EvaVer (X)
Local time: 18:45
Czech to French
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on the language in which I am writing. Which is broadly the same as "according to the client's preference".
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Parrot
Spain
Local time: 18:45
Spanish to English
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Style guide, if any.
I'm expected to know all the ways dates are written in my pairs, anyway. And sometimes, an indication may be had from a target country specification or document type.
| | | | Doan Quang
Vietnam
Local time: 23:45
Member
English to Vietnamese
| DD/MM/YYYY or according to the style guide | Apr 3, 2016 |
DD/MM/YYYY or according to the style guide
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 13:45
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Logical vs. US way to be different than the rest of the world | Apr 3, 2016 |
The correct and logical format, IMO, is MM/DD/YY or YYYY. Just like you don't express hours in the format MM:HH:SS, since the correct order is HH:MM:SS, the correct order for dates is DD/MM/YY.
When the translation is into EN-US, however, it may be required to use the unfortunate MM/DD/YY format, but in these cases, I usualy change the dates to DD/MMM/YY format, i. e., today is 03/APR/16, so there is no doubt and I don't have to use a format I will never agree with.
[Edited a... See more The correct and logical format, IMO, is MM/DD/YY or YYYY. Just like you don't express hours in the format MM:HH:SS, since the correct order is HH:MM:SS, the correct order for dates is DD/MM/YY.
When the translation is into EN-US, however, it may be required to use the unfortunate MM/DD/YY format, but in these cases, I usualy change the dates to DD/MMM/YY format, i. e., today is 03/APR/16, so there is no doubt and I don't have to use a format I will never agree with.
[Edited at 2016-04-03 22:18 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 17:45
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| So, very few use the ISO recommended format | Apr 3, 2016 |
I had a feeling it wouldn't do very well, but 5% of the votes really is low. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601
Mario Freitas wrote:
When the translation is into EN-US, however, it may be required to use the unfortunate MM/DD/YY format, but in these cases, I usualy change the dates to DD/MMM/YY format, i. e., today is 03/APR/16
Hmm... I think you'll find that Americans still like to reverse the order so it reads April 3, 2016.
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Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 13:45
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Sheila Wilson wrote: I had a feeling it wouldn't do very well, but 5% of the votes really is low. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601 Mario Freitas wrote:
When the translation is into EN-US, however, it may be required to use the unfortunate MM/DD/YY format, but in these cases, I usualy change the dates to DD/MMM/YY format, i. e., today is 03/APR/16 Hmm... I think you'll find that Americans still like to reverse the order so it reads April 3, 2016.
Whenever there is space, I usually choose this format (Month dd, yyyy). My "solution" below is because there is usually no space for that when the date is in the xx/xx/xx format, so I use DD/MMM/YY or YYYY, which adds only one character, and will be understandable to all speakers of either language. And yes, the Americans will always find a way to reverse and be different than the rest of the world. The use of miles, yards, inches, gallons, Farenheit, pounds, feet, etc., which in no way relate to each other whatsoever, is a clear evidence of that. But that's OK. The rest of the world will keep using the logical, obvious and easy-to-understand-and-calculate metric system.
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