American vs British style of writing dates

Guest   Thu Feb 09, 2006 1:46 pm GMT
"Austrians and Australians are basically the same"
Was it Austrians who discovered Australia and that is why the names are the same. If that is so then why do Australians speak English? Is it a Srcond language?
Guest   Thu Feb 09, 2006 9:32 pm GMT
<Was it Austrians who discovered Australia and that is why the names are the same. If that is so then why do Australians speak English? Is it a Srcond language? >

It wasn't the Austrians that discovered Australia it was a Dutchman called Abel Tasman who named the land mass 'Australie' later colonised by the English. The official (and only) language of Australia is English. There have been research that the Portuguese may of discovered Australia but this research hasn't been completed yet.

This would also apply to New Zealand (Niew Zeeland) as well - discovered by the Dutch and colonised by the English.
Guest   Thu Feb 09, 2006 9:54 pm GMT
So where does the name 'Australie' come from. It sounds a bit close to Austria. Are you sure you're right? Where do the Austrians come into the story then?
Guest   Fri Feb 10, 2006 7:36 am GMT
Australis in Latin = of the southern hemisphere
Guest   Fri Feb 10, 2006 7:37 am GMT
But "Austria" is the Anglicised form of the German "Osterreich".
Guest   Fri Feb 10, 2006 10:33 am GMT
>It wasn't the Austrians that discovered Australia it was a Dutchman called Abel Tasman who named the land mass 'Australie' later colonised by the English. The official (and only) language of Australia is English. There have been research that the Portuguese may of discovered Australia but this research hasn't been completed yet. <

I'm sorry the Orginal name was 'Niew Holland'. I don't know how the name 'Australia' came into the scene. But I think it was also from the Dutch.
Guest   Fri Feb 10, 2006 7:48 pm GMT
But "Austria" is the Anglicised form of the German "Osterreich". "
"Australis in Latin = of the southern hemisphere
Austria is in the Northern Hemisphere.
sudesh   Sun Jan 07, 2007 4:54 pm GMT
can anyone can tell me that who follow more rule french people or british people by the example of individual context,company or whole?
if anyone can help me his or her reply my on sudeshdares@rediffmail.com
Thank you
guest   Sun Jan 07, 2007 4:56 pm GMT
can anyone can tell me that who follow more rule french people or british people by the example of individual context,company or whole?
if anyone can help me his or her reply my on sudeshdares@rediffmail.com
Thank you
helpppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp
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07VA   Sun Jan 07, 2007 5:39 pm GMT
Follow more rules about what?
07VL   Sun Jan 07, 2007 5:45 pm GMT
"But 'Austria' is the Anglicised form of the German 'Osterreich'. "

No, it's the Latinised form of "Oesterreich" simply means "Eastern Kingdon/Realm." In French, it's "Autriche."

It is confusing though. Even in Latin, "Austria" suggests "south" rather than "east" (orientalis).
Adam   Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:37 pm GMT
"It wasn't the Austrians that discovered Australia it was a Dutchman called Abel Tasman who named the land mass 'Australie' later colonised by the English."

I think you'll find that the British sailor Captain Cook discovered Australia, and that's why the British claimed it. Finders-keepers.
Adam   Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:41 pm GMT
The name Australia is derived from the Latin Australis, meaning "of the South" [[Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere]].

The name "Australia" was popularised by the 1814 work A Voyage to Terra Australis by the navigator Matthew Flinders, who was the first recorded person to circumnavigate Australia. Despite its title, which reflected the view of the British Admiralty, Flinders used the word "Australia" in the book, which was widely read and gave the term general currency. Governor Lachlan Macquarie of New South Wales subsequently used the word in his dispatches to England. In 1817, he recommended that it be officially adopted. In 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia.
Adam   Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:48 pm GMT
"More logical, my ass. The American way of writing dates is just a convention, as is any other method, but it actually DOES make a fair amount of common sense. It mimics how I conceptualize the information offered by the date (although that's a chicken-and-egg argument waiting to happen....).

After all, knowing the MONTH first allows you to visualize exactly what time of year we're talking about -- late spring, middle of winter, early summer, etc.

The DAY helps you put it in the context of the month -- early November? Late November? The beginning of March when it's still really cold, or toward the end, when it's starting to warm up?

Once you've got a handle on what season it is, then knowing the YEAR helps you put it in historical context -- wigs and short pants? Bellbottoms? Bearskins?

After all, we do live our lives by the cycle of the seasons and years, right? "
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What is this confusing rubbish that you are speaking?

Day/Month/Year is much more logical than Month/Day/Year. The British systen goes from shortest to the largest, whereas the American system is just strangely higgledy-piggledy.

Just think of it this way -

The British say "Sunday 7th January 2007". That actually means "Sunday, the seventh day of January in the year 2007."

But the Americans say "Sunday January 7th 2007." But what the hell are they meaning? They aren't saying the proper "Sunday, the seventh day of January in the year 2007", they are saying somelike like "Sunday, January, the seventh day of which we are now in, in the year 2006."

Surely, thinking of it this way, the British system makes much more sense.
Guest   Sun Jan 07, 2007 10:38 pm GMT
"But 'Austria' is the Anglicised form of the German 'Osterreich'."

Oh, the ostrich is an animal in Austria, isn't it? That's what it got its name from.