Why is it that Americans refer to 24 hour time as military time? I understand that the military uses the 24hr format but I don’t understand why the general public would refer to it like that?

It makes it seem like it’s a foreign concept where as in a lot of countries it’s the norm.

  • jasondj@ttrpg.network
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    1 year ago

    Let’s go out to eat, I made reservations for 7.

    Are we having breakfast or dinner?

    Without context, tough to tell. That’s why 24hr is superior.

    • Hexous@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Dinner, because if it’s earlier than 7 AM and you’re inviting me to an impromptu breakfast, we’re not friends anymore, and I’m going back to sleep.

    • YaBoyMax@programming.dev
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      1 year ago

      Except that’s not actually an issue in practice. In a real-world conversation you would disambiguate with “Let’s get breakfast” or “Let’s get dinner” if you’re not referring to the immediate future. I honestly can’t think of a single time that I’ve been genuinely confused in this way.

      Edit: Also, when would you ever make reservations for breakfast? Unless this is a joke that’s gone over my head.

      • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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        1 year ago

        The context is not always given though.

        With 24hours, that context is always given.

        • Wrench Wizard@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I won’t disagree on that and do see your point, 100% context for sure

          We do have more context than it seems though, if someone tells me to show up to work at 7, I can assume it’s a.m. If someone says they’ll meet me at 12, it’s going to be mid-day etc. If it’s 7 and bright outside it’s in the am, if it’s 7 and dark it’s p.m. It’s not too tricky with context clues

          But, being my own devil’s advocate, you are right. No ambiguity in 24 hour time. I don’t have an issue with 24 hour time, was raised on 12 hour so it’s natural but 24 isn’t bad either, and is more exact in some ways.

          I do prefer 12 hours though, makes the day feel shorter like working two 4 hour shifts instead of a solid 8. Same time but one feels shorter so I apply that to most days. As another mentioned, working a 9-5 seems short when compared to working a 9-17 😂

          If it were up to me though, A.M and P.M would be visible on every 12 hour clock, I do agree it’s weird that some are made without it, sure it is easy to figure out whether a.m or p.m via context clues but having any ambiguity in a form of measurement seems odd, but making a dinner date for 7 and showing up at 7 a.m would be odd as well I guess, though not everything is so clear.

    • Rentlar@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      When it’s unclear I’ll say 7 in the evening, or 7 in the morning, 7pm, 7am. 7 at night, supper at 7, whichever one isn’t pitch dark. There are many ways to go about it.