using the I18n helper :
I18n.l( aDate, :format => ( :default/:long/:short) ) is fine to display a localized date ...
in the rails yml file, there is also abbr_day_names: and abbr_month_names: that I can use with select helpers
BUT there is no such abbr in the strftime parameters list ... ( not found ?) is there a way to use this abbr_day_names / abbr_month_names also in formatting dates ?
i.e. I18n.l(Time.now, :format => :long) => "February 15, 2012 15:42"
I18n.l(Time.now, :format => :abbr_long) would display => "Feb 15, 2012 15:42"
thanks for your feedback