diff --git a/tools/parse.go b/tools/parse.go
index 38d7b5e..021c6a2 100644
--- a/tools/parse.go
+++ b/tools/parse.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
-	"time"
 )
 
 func ParseBytes(in []byte) any {
@@ -34,7 +33,7 @@ func ParseString(in string) any {
 		return i
 	} else if f, err := strconv.ParseFloat(s, 64); err == nil {
 		return f
-	} else if t, err := time.Parse(time.RFC3339, s); err == nil {
+	} else if t, err := ParseDate(s); err == nil {
 		return t
 	} else if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(s), &j); err == nil {
 		return j
diff --git a/tools/parse_date.go b/tools/parse_date.go
index e110f0f..d060299 100644
--- a/tools/parse_date.go
+++ b/tools/parse_date.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ func ParseDate(in string) (t time.Time, err error) {
 	conf := dp.Configuration{
 		CurrentTime:        time.Now().Local(),
 		ReturnTimeAsPeriod: true,
+		Languages:          []string{"en"},
 	}
 
 	d, err := dp.Parse(&conf, in)
diff --git a/tools/parse_test.go b/tools/parse_test.go
index 2e8e49f..826af9b 100644
--- a/tools/parse_test.go
+++ b/tools/parse_test.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 
 func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
 	when := time.Now()
+	now := when.Local().Truncate(time.Second)
 	tests := []struct {
 		name string
 		in   string
@@ -22,6 +23,8 @@ func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
 		{"false", "false", false},
 		{"nil", "nil", nil},
 		{"time", when.Format(time.RFC3339), when},
+		{"now", "now", now},
+		{"DateFormat", now.Format(DateFormat), now},
 		{"json-obj", `{"foo":"bar","baz":"quux"}`, json.RawMessage(`{"foo":"bar","baz":"quux"}`)},
 		{"json-arr", `["foo",42,"bar", null,"quux", true]`, json.RawMessage(`["foo",42,"bar", null,"quux", true]`)},
 		{"empty", "", ""},
@@ -48,7 +51,7 @@ func getParseTestRunner(in string, exp any) func(*testing.T) {
 		if expT, ok := exp.(time.Time); ok {
 			ti, gotTime := out.(time.Time)
 			if assert.True(t, gotTime, "Should have gotten a time.Time, but didn't") {
-				assert.WithinRange(t, expT, ti.Add(-time.Second), ti.Add(time.Second))
+				assert.WithinRange(t, expT, ti.Add(-2*time.Second), ti.Add(2*time.Second))
 			}
 		} else {
 			assert.Equal(t, exp, out)
@@ -57,7 +60,7 @@ func getParseTestRunner(in string, exp any) func(*testing.T) {
 		if expT, ok := exp.(time.Time); ok {
 			ti, gotTime := out.(time.Time)
 			if assert.True(t, gotTime, "Should have gotten a time.Time, but didn't") {
-				assert.WithinRange(t, expT, ti.Add(-time.Second), ti.Add(time.Second))
+				assert.WithinRange(t, expT, ti.Add(-2*time.Second), ti.Add(2*time.Second))
 			}
 		} else {
 			assert.Equal(t, exp, out)