I'm OK with 10.13 -- I know there are only 12 months, so the second date *has* to be the day. But, 9.8? It's my wedding date and the only way I can "decipher" the date engraved on my wedding ring is by remembering I was married in September, not in August.As Tamara says it's logical to work from smallest to biggest (or biggest to smallest). Times are always hh/mm/ss so why aren't dates yyyy/mm/dd?
I grew up with a *logical* progression in dating -- from the smallest unit to the biggest (day, month, year). In fact, to make certain-sure that no mistake was possible, we used Roman numerals for the month (thus, my wedding occured on 8.IX.'73). The US convention of putting the month first, then the day, then the year, seems to have no rhyme or reason and trips me up every time.
On a practical note - on the internet which is read by people used to doing things back to front, I always write the number and the name of the month - today is 01 March or 1st March. It may not be the format they are familiar with but it's clear what is meant. Does anyone remember what happened on 9/11/2001? That's 9th November 2001, a Monday so I guess I would have taught my Rochester class - unless it was half term. On the other hand 11/9/01 was quite dreadful.
The only "excuse" for dating "the other way' round" seems to be derived from the phrase "September 8th" (and I have no idea what *its* origin might be), although the "8th of September" is equally viable (see the "remember, remember, the 5th of November..."
A large proportion of old (English) parish registers record dates in the "September 8th" format
Brenda http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/paternoster/
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