Wolfgang: You have reiterated what I said in my earlier post to this thread, on September 9th at 4:04 pm: "the date of US's Independence Day is referred to here in the States as either 'July 4th' or 'The Fourth of July', but never '4th July'. Orac's refutation was that " '4th July' is always read out loud as 'the 4th of July'. What I was trying to say to him, in the quote you pulled, is that when an American sees "4th July" written, (s)he does not automatically read it out loud as "the 4th of July"... at least, not any American I know does that. When we see "4th July", it's such an unusual notation to our eyes that we don't even automatically see it as "July 4th" without having to pause for half-a-second and interpret it. Now, if you can show me that the notes from which (P)resident Bush read his speech contain "4th July" and that that's what he read it aloud as "the 4th of July", then you will have disproven my point. Otherwise, I think you've made my point!

Orac: You'd have to ask Max to be absolutely certain, but it's been my impression that his DD-Month-YY notation system within the Mudcat website is in deference to those outside the US who use that system. Or perhaps it's just the system his internet provider uses, and he finds it simplest to conform to it. Either way, that system is by no means the norm within the US. Tell ya what: why don't you check out another thousand US sites, preferably those whose target audiences are US citizens, and then come tell us what dating-notation systems you find!