I want to know if there is a name for a function/method/library that converts a given date object with time information into something like: <blockquote> a few seconds ago 2 minutes ago about an hour ago 10 hours ago yesterday on 12-May-2010 </blockquote> and so on. I don't know what to google for, but I'm guessing that someone must have done this before. I'm specifically looking for an implementation in python (preferably a Django filter) that works on a datetime, but any open source implementation in any language will do really, for inspiration.

Google for "Fuzzy Date Time"

What is such a thing called?

I want to know if there is a name for a function/method/library that converts a given date object with time information into something like:

a few seconds ago
2 minutes ago
about an hour ago
10 hours ago
yesterday
on 12-May-2010

and so on. I don't know what to google for, but I'm guessing that someone must have done this before. I'm specifically looking for an implementation in python (preferably a Django filter) that works on a datetime, but any open source implementation in any language will do really, for inspiration.