(SOLVED!) How to correct date format and incomplete dictionaries in non-US English version?

[Helmut]

Hi folks,
I was wondering if anybody knows how to correct the date format in Mint Mate English version. Help much appreciated.

Example: The 31st of July 2018 will show up in the panel as July 31 2018, and in Thunderbird as 7.31.2018 The date and month being awkward because in wrong (American) order.

I would rather want it to be for example 31 July 2018 in the panel, and 31:7:2018 in Thunderbird.

[Pierre]

YES - the USA version can be a real nuisance, indeed,
but unfortunately most Operating System will Default to Their Time & Date Stamp.


GoTo - Menu - Control Center - Look & Feel:
- Languages :
- - this covers Language,, Interface,, Date & Time
- Region:
- - this covers Numbers, Currency,, Address's,, Measurement

NB: this is for LinuxMint Mate - - not the Cinnamon, which is slightly different.

[Helmut]

Thanks, Pierre! I already had the language set as real English and region as Germany, but the dates are in the so-called American-English format. Its not so much annoying in the panel as in Thunderbird where it becomes a bloody nuisance indeed.
This is fundamental problem and is highly annoying! It becomes obvious in:
1) The Mint panel (The clock applet, in the panel bottom right, includes the date in a foreign (American) format)
2) in Thunderbird, where there also is the foreign date format.

[Helmut]

SOLVED!

This problem has been annoying me and others for years, but this finally solved it:

1) In Control centre / Languages, all instances of English including American dialect were deleted, except for a random form of genuine English, be it English UK, English Australian, English NZ or whatever other real English variant.

2) Other languages or regions in use were untouched.

3) Reboot and all is OK

Presumably the inclusion of the American dialect creates that problem, even though American was neither chosen nor in use.

[lazarus]

Thanks for this, Helmut!

I'm an Aussie and while it didn't bother me as much, seeing your fix I thought "why not?"

And promptly discovered that in CP/Languages both English, UK and English, Australia were incompletely loaded. Every other variant of English was fine except for those two. WTH?

A quick update and now not only is my date format correct but my dictionaries are working properly as well! (I'd been beating my head against the wall with that one, trying everything except the right fix, apparently! )

[Helmut]

Great to hear, Lazarus! Good news getting rid of that dialect fixes even more than the messed-up date formats, and thank you for pointing it out.
My dictionaries are also working correctly now.