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Bre and AmE way of saying the date
In BrE you can say the date as follows:
1st of January 2009 or January 1st 2009. I only ever hear the latter in AmE, but do you guys ever say the former?
OK, funny how people learn their own language and while doing so,learn what is to be said commonly and what not.
Not sure if that was sarcasm or not, but to explain further: the first set-up is really only used when starting to tell a story. For example, "It was the first of January, 2009 when I learned that I was psychic... yada, yada, yada."
However, "the first of January" set-up is said quite often so long as the year does not follow. In any case, nobody's going to judge you for using the latter set-up if you want to, it just sounds a little formal to American ears. Hope that clears it up.
Why do people say 'January one'? Is it just me or does that sound f*ing lame?
<<Why do people say 'January one'? Is it just me or does that sound f*ing lame? >>
You don't hear that too often around here.
Brits and Aussies for that matter sometimes say 'January 2nd' but it's less common. Americans commonly say 'January one' or 'September eleven'.
Trimac20: ... um... no we don't. That would be extremely uncommon, and if it was used, there would be a specific reason.
I am American and I have never heard "January one". We say "January first", "January second", "January third", ...
It is uncommon to use the form "the first of January" in America. An exception is "the fourth of July", which is Independence Day.
I forgot to mention that while we don't say "January one" (we don't mix month names and cardinal numbers), we do sometimes use cardinal numbers to represent both the month and the day. For instance, 1/1/2010 might be read "one one two-thousand and ten". If we read it in full, it would be "January first, two-thousand and ten".
We've been here before on this one, but never mind.....off we go again....
Today is the fifteenth of October (British style) - or if you prefer, and you live in Sunningdale - October the fifteenth. Whichever way you say it here in Britain you always include the definite article when quoting the date, unlike in America where they believe in short, sharp brevity and miss it out altogether. The Americans, bless their hearts, are not keen on wasting breath it seems. Next week will see Trafalgar Day - the twenty first of October.....commemorating Lord Nelson's victory in 1805 at the Battle of Trafalgar, just off the coast of north west Spain. That particular sea area is now officially called Trafalgar by the UK Meteorological Office and is used in shipping forecasts. Four days later we shall have St Crispin's Day - the twenty fifth of October....this is famously commemorated in Shakespeare's "Henry V" when Henry V (Henry the Fifth*) roused up all his valiant fighting men at the crack of dawn just prior to the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. This is one of the most well known of Shakespearean speeches. You know just how famous and respected a person is when his/her surname is turned into an adjective! Soon Britain will be commemorating an even more famous date - the Fifth of November, also called Guy Fawkes' Day - or most probably Bonfire Night. Guy Fawkes came from the lovely cathedral city of York (as did the infamous highwayman Dick Turpin, and the present day Dame Judi Dench, among other well known luminaries). Guy, along with his fellow plotters, attempted to blow up Parliament at Westminster on the Fifth of November 1605 using gunpowder and a flaming torch. The plot failed - many people here in the UK think it would be a VERY good idea to try the same kind of thing today, bearing in mind the load of muppets and scallywags gracing the green and red leather benches in both of the Houses within the Palace of Westminster. The old rhyme, well known to every Brit, goes: "Remember, remember, the Fifth of November - the Gunpowder Treason and Plot......" as recited by the children at a primary school in Kent, England: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/guy/rhymes.htm
No, it wasn't meant to be sarcastic, just that it's interesting that when you learn your own language, you learn lots of expressions, but you learn that some of these expressions are more acceptable or commonly used than others, and as such would only say certain things routinely.
Zager And Evans - In The Year 2525
You Tube video In the Year 2525 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"In the Year 2525 (Exordium and Terminus)" is a hit song from 1969 by the Lincoln, Nebraska duo Zager and Evans which reached number one on the Billboard ... I find Google and antimoon addictive. There was an article in the Sunday Times which said that Google was good for activating the brain. Reaching parts that Heineken couldn't and improving the blood supply / neural connections etc.
Just for the record:
According to Jimmy Guterman and Owen O'Donnell, authors of The Worst Rock and Roll Records of All Time (1991), place the song at number six on their list of the 50 worst rock-and-roll singles. |