title: Explode date/time string into assoc array
body: <p>I have a string returning from a DB option, that allows the user to set her/his date format:</p>
  
  <pre><code>F j, Y
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>which would (for today) then return the following value in my <code>get_date()</code> function:</p>
  
  <pre><code>string 'September 24, 2012' (length=18)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Now I need an associative array that splits that string:</p>
  
  <pre><code>array( 
      'day'   =&gt; 24,
      'month' =&gt; 'September',
      'year'  =&gt; 2012
  )
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>As don't know how the user sets her/his date, I have the problem that I can't simply say <code>F = month, j = day, Y = year</code>. Everything that the <a href="http://php.net/manual/de/function.date.php" rel="nofollow">php <code>date()</code> function</a> allows, is allowed in the system.</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p><strong>Question:</strong> How can I "match" those? Is there some native function that I've overseen, that tells me if something is a month/day/year/hour/...?</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p><strong>Edit:</strong> The max. PHP version I can use is PHP 5.2.1</p>