Pedro J. Aphalo writes:
 > On 18 Feb 97 at 15:12, Hans Aberg wrote:
 >
 >
 > >   For example, with the numbers, it is so that all Swedish numbers _should_
 > > be typeset with a comma like "3,1415..", and not "3.1415..", as in English.
 >
 > In English one could use either 1\,234.567 or 1,234.567, or maybe
 > 1234.567, or even 1\,234{\cdot}567, etc.
 >
 > So "format" for numbers changes both within and between languages...

Or you could follow the ISO standard.

The main `problem' (if it is a problem) is that there is no consistent
story taught in schools.  One school will teach a student to write
e.g. a date in one format; the neighbouring school will teach a
different format.  When children grow up, they use the format they
were taught - they aren't interested in conforming to a standard.