Dates in AM Eng

I think the most common is February 28, 2012. Note comma and lack of "th".

You also see 28 February 2012.

I don't think I'd say 28th with the -th if I were also giving the date and the year, which I would only do fairly formally.

I suppose it would be easier if we all used one order, but I don't see why your proposal is any easier than any other order.

I think the most common is February 28, 2012. Note comma and lack of "th".

You also see 28 February 2012.

I don't think I'd say 28th with the -th if I were also giving the date and the year, which I would only do fairly formally.

I agree with the first sentence, including the punctuation, but not with the second or third. Normal word order in American English is February 28, 2012, but if I were to reverse it (say, for a formal wedding invitation) I'd write ...on the 28th of February, 2012. (The latter form is decidedly rare in American English.)

In spoken English, the normal thing, of course, is simply to give the ordinal number: "What's the date today? It's the 28th." But in the extremely unlikely event I was called upon to give the month and year as well, I think I'd say "It's February 28th, 2012"

I was thinking of writing more than speaking. Most Americans (except perhaps those with considerable military experience) always pronounce the -th.

US military would write today's date as 28 Feb 2012, and I think would pronounce it a twenty-eight February twenty twelve.

Wouldn't it make things easier if we all adopted year/month/day as the order used for numerical dates: 2012.02.28?

No it wouldn't. Makes me think of filing out administrative or computer forms. It would however be simpler if the US started writing day/month/year instead of month/day/year. It's confusing until you get past 12. But I guess that will happen when they switch to Celsius and kilometres.

I agree with #1 -- but in my experience the "28 February 2012" format is more common on business letters/forms (my experience is not in the USA).

I use the 20120228 format on computer file names for easy sorting.

When I'm filling out anything that might be international (visa applications, for instance) I always try to use 28 Feb 2012 if possible to avoid any misunderstanding. But most US forms I see use a numerical MM/DD/YYYY format.

I'd write ...on the 28th of February, 2012. (The latter form is decidedly rare in American English.)

Don't forget all that legal stuff, Vinny.

This agreement is made this 28th Day of February, 2012.

Signed this 28th Day of February, 2012 at [some city]

Adopted this 28th Day of February, an ordinance to prohibit misuse of apostrophes in official correspondence.

That's zashibis you're quoting, nutrax.

(my experience is not in the USA).

That's nice...but look at the thread title. The OP is asking specifically about the USA.

The format suggested by the OP is almost that which is used for NOTAMs issued by Aviation Authorities. A date is written yy/mm/dd/hr/mn, 29 Feb 2012 2.35pm is 1202291435