> I believe that everyone (or almost everyone) except Americans writes the date in D-M-Y order.

That's right, except in Asian countries with American influence. I know in Japan they write YYYY/MM/DD.

Just in case - always spell out the month in a word, not a number..

Neil_Oz, I think you're right about the prevalence of the DD-MM-YY system. I wish I could say that it is consistent in Canada, but there are some who have adopted the US practice of MM-DD-YY.

We are equally confused on using the metric system. We measure highway distance, fuel, and fuel economy in kilometres, litres, and litres per 100 km. At the grocery store, we use both the metric and the imperial system. I am looking right now at a tin of artichoke hearts that says "14 fl oz 398 mL" on the label. If you want to purchase sliced Black Forest ham, you can ask for so many ounces or so many grams--the butcher's scales can handle either. Most builders and trades people still talk about square feet of floor space or so many inches of pipe. Farmers say acres, newspapers and governments talk about hectares. Perhaps oddest of all is the newspapers' habit of converting imperial measure to metric, even when it makes no sense. A report of a ship or an aircraft travelling at so many knots will be converted to kilometres per hour--intellectually satisfying, perhaps, but nonsensical to a sailor or a flyer. Why even the government has that one right--inland weather forecasts talk about windspeeds in kilometres per hour; marine and avaiation forecasts use knots.

Anselm

Being anti-globalization and homogenization of the world's cultures, I applaud countries that maintain their traditional ways--including weights and measures and systems of dating (all sorts of dating).

Rage against the machine! Oops, gotta go--time for my morning Starbucks decaf Caramel Macchiato Espresso.

The UK is stuck between Imperial and metric too. Building supplies are supposed to have gone metric, but you will often hear people talking about needing 800mm of four-by-two. But we manage. I think I can still do duodecimal arithmetic, as well.

...and in the U.S. it's a two-by-four.
We do everything backwards!

While I agree that country-specific traditions are in general a good thing, and that the globalization trend can eliminate those very things that make a country unique, I think that there are some general standards that would make life alot easier. For example, how much does stone weigh? How do you convert this to anything relevant today? Cubits, hectares, and leagues -- all a mystery to me. And thank goodness that when my aircraft needs refueling, the operators aren't trying to convert kotules into amphoras, and then into imperial gallons...

It's horses for courses. A stone is 14lb, and if you use it often enough (as most people do in the UK), then it isn't a problem (indeed, I would much rather weigh eleven-and-a-bit of something than a-hundred-and-fifty-plus of something else).

But for those things that are internationally traded (if only personal body-fat could be), there are metric tonnes.

I'm not bothered whether I use metric or imperial measures, except that I can't imagine buying metric trousers with a waist measurement of eighty-something: it sounds so hugely fat.

"And thank goodness that when my aircraft needs refueling, the operators aren't trying to convert kotules into amphoras, and then into imperial gallons..."

Well, we did have a bit of an incident with that kind of thing. In the summer of 1983, an Air Canada B767 ran out of fuel over central Canada, finally gliding powerless to an inactive airfield in Gimli, Manitoba. No one was injured, and the aircraft eventually returned to the skies. I believe it is still in the AC fleet.

The cause, unfortunately, was an error in converting the weight of the fuel from kilograms to pounds. You can read all about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

Anselm

And then there's the issue of the standard 2-by-4 (or 4-by-2) that's shrunk to about 3 1/4-by-1 3/4.

Rage against the machine, indeed.