Rachel Adams
Key Member
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2018
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Russian
- Home Country
- Georgia
- Current Location
- Georgia
I'm not sure why you're so shocked by this. It's a really handy way of giving one's date of birth, especially over the phone. It's simply the spoken version of "4/4/86" which is how it's commonly written.
In BrE, you'll hear both "The fourth of April" and just "Fourth of April". It depends on how casual or otherwise the speaker is being. Frequently, the only time we're required to give our date of birth is when answering questions over the phone, perhaps when using our birthdate as a security question/answer. In that case, I would use as few words as possible. For example, my phone banking company require my full name, postcode and date of birth in order to ascertain that I'm who I say I am. The conversation goes something like this:
Bank: Thank you for calling Moneysafe. Can I take your full name?
Me: Helen Christina Smith.
Bank: Thank you. Can I take your postcode?
Me: BM6 8HU
Bank: Thank you. And your date of birth?
Me: Four four eighty-six.
Bank: Thank you. You're speaking to Jennifer. How can I help you today?
As far as the longer version goes, note that AmE speakers might say "April fourth nineteen eighty-six", without using "the". BrE speakers wouldn't omit "the".
Thank you so much for your detailed explanation. But if I don't have it written as "4/4/86" but as ''4th April, 1986'' if I am reading an article can I still pronounce it as ''four four eighty-six''? That's what shocked me. Or perhaps I misunderstand and the pronunciation ''four four eighty-six' is used only when we have 4/4/86 and not with the longer version of ''4th April, 1986''? I am asking about BrE. Sorry, dates are confusing.