Languages that use 0-23 hour system (work, converting, time)
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Japan uses both. Usually 12h is used in daily conversation and 24h is in written words.
Interestingly, they sometimes use bigger numbers to express time after midnight, such as 25:00 for 1am. This way of expression is mainly used for opening hours of business, like a bar displays their opening time for 18:00-26:00 instead of 18:00-2:00. By doing this, no one misunderstands they open until 2pm. This is only for midnight hours and never used for time after sunrise. I wonder if any other countries use this kind of expression.
I like this. It's easier to visualize 18:00-26:00 (clearly eight hours, clearly past midnight) than 18:00-2:00.
Even in the US, where it’s known as “military time” for obvious reasons, it’s used in the trucking industry, for example, which is often a 24/7 proposition, so it erases any doubt about when you’re due to arrive.
I run on 24h time as the son of an immigrant AND as a former trucker, and am not entirely sure of the logic behind the whole AM/PM thing. It’s never made particular sense to me, and it’s definitely not a matter of language.
I run on 24h time as the son of an immigrant AND as a former trucker, and am not entirely sure of the logic behind the whole AM/PM thing. It’s never made particular sense to me, and it’s definitely not a matter of language.
Of course, when people only had analog clocks, which was quite a long span of time, they tended to think about time in terms of 1 to 12. Looking at a clock face that says 3:15 and converting that into 15:15 requires a double think. It is a lot easier to say 3:15 PM.
At any rate, it seems logical to me! Of course, now that we have digital it's just as easy to make the clock run from 0 to 24.
I'm sure people get used to it, but any time one has to look at one number or word and say a different one, there is a bit of mental effort. So no, it's not as easy to look at 8 and say 20 as it is to look at 8 and say 8, especially if you have to switch back and forth throughout the day.
As I said, though, digital clocks take care of this problem. I was just explaining the "logic" of using AM/PM instead of having to convert analog clock time for half the day.
Looking at a clock face that says 3:15 and converting that into 15:15 requires a double think. It is a lot easier to say 3:15 PM.
There are clock faces which have the regular 1-12 in large figures around the outer edge as usual and 13-23 plus 00 or 24 in smaller, often red, figures on an inside circle. We often used to see these in Britain in places like railway stations and other places where the 24-hour system is used extensively.
Although relatively rare, there are also clock mechanisms in which the hour hand takes 24 hours to make a full circle with a corresponding face having 0/24 at the top and 12 at the bottom, with 6 at the normal 3 o'clock position and 18 at the normal 9 o'clock position.
Although relatively rare, there are also clock mechanisms in which the hour hand takes 24 hours to make a full circle with a corresponding face having 0/24 at the top and 12 at the bottom, with 6 at the normal 3 o'clock position and 18 at the normal 9 o'clock position.
Now that would take getting used to!
At least, for those of us who are old enough that reading a regular analog clock, even without any numbers at all, is automatic.
am not entirely sure of the logic behind the whole AM/PM thing. It’s never made particular sense to me, and it’s definitely not a matter of language.
This! ^^^
I agree.
A day has 24 hrs, to me, there is no reason to divide it: 2x12 hrs (or AM/PM)
When I look at a digital clock, in my mind I visualize an analog clock. It's much easier to me to use it as a pie when I am adding or subtracting hours/minutes.
Six hours is a half, three hours is a quarter of the pie. Then I go from there.
I am a visual thinker and process things visually. I can much better memorize things by seeing them.
On a digital clock, I just see the numbers and would need to do actual math to add or subtract the hours/minutes.
We use 24 hrs day. And yes, in a casual conversation we usually say: see you at 6 or lunch is at 1. It's just a common sense that we don't mean lunch at 1am or date at 6am. When someone works 8-5 shift and the meeting is at 2, it goes without saying that the meeting is at 2pm. However, on a work bulletin or email it will be 14:00 hrs, because that's an official announcement.
We sometimes say something like: see you tomorrow evening, is 5 ok?
Or: I will be leaving Tuesday morning at 7. It means 7am, but doesn't need additional explanation.
Official times like transportation schedules are always 0-24hrs, same with official announcements, documents or statements.
Actually, only eighteen (18) countries use the 12-hour clock: Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, El Salvador, Honduras, India, Ireland, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia and U.S. (although the military uses the 24-hour clock).
Eighteen out of 195 countries in the world.
A day has 24 hrs, to me, there is no reason to divide it: 2x12 hrs (or AM/PM)
When I look at a digital clock, in my mind I visualize an analog clock. It's much easier to me to use it as a pie when I am adding or subtracting hours/minutes.
I'm not getting the logic here. I also visualize time on a clock face, but if we are visualizing an analog clock, we are visualizing 12 hours at a time, not 24. The day is divided into two "analog clock faces" of 12 hours each.
Quote:
And yes, in a casual conversation we usually say: see you at 6 or lunch is at 1. It's just a common sense that we don't mean lunch at 1am or date at 6am. When someone works 8-5 shift and the meeting is at 2, it goes without saying that the meeting is at 2pm. However, on a work bulletin or email it will be 14:00 hrs, because that's an official announcement.
We sometimes say something like: see you tomorrow evening, is 5 ok?
Or: I will be leaving Tuesday morning at 7. It means 7am, but doesn't need additional explanation.
Of course people don't include "AM" or "PM" when they don't need to. Sometimes one does need to clarify, but as your own experience shows, most of the time either saying "AM/PM" or expressing time with a 24-hour clock is not necessary.
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