Oh, even "four four eighty-six" can be used. :shock:
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.
When I am just announcing the date, "April 4th, 1986" is pronounced as "April the fourth nineteen eighty-six". And "4th April, 1988" as "(the) fourth of April nineteen eighty-six". Am I right?"Of" is never written [STRIKE]like[/STRIKE] in the same way that "the" is. Am I right? Interesting. "The" is optional only at the beginning only in the second option in bold.
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".
