For a long time my natural instinct has been to use the 24 hour clock.
I was recently given an appointment at the dentist for a rather odd time 1435. [I erroneously said 1535 in the original post] However the receptionist said to me that the appointment was at "25 minutes to 3.'' Writing it in my diary and so as to keep it on the 12 hour clock I said "Right. That's it in at 2.35". "No" she responded "It's at 25 to 3". I immediately apologised and was just about to erase it and re-write it when it occurred to me that we were just misunderstanding each other's format for the same time. I laughed and, apologised, and asked if we could agree on 1435. Quick as a flash she responded with a smile "Oh heavens, I don't know. I've never managed to use decimalisation for time!".
That's not all though. 1230 can also be "half 12" as in "I'll meet you at half 12" ie at half (an hour) past midday.
In fact 'a quarter of an hour' 'half an hour' and 'three quarters of an hour" are still in common usage in the UK at least.
In Norfolk many would say 5 and 20 to 3. My mother would always say it thus.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you, Rachel. Thank you very much for reminding me that my Grandmothet used to say that too and I had quite forgotten.
DeleteStrange to think of time in different ways when talking about it, but when reading, it sounds lovely, mysterious, almost romantic.
ReplyDeleteMaywyn there is always a romantic possibility with the mention of time.
DeleteRachel has reminded me of how they would say it in my grandma's village.
ReplyDeleteTasker, as I said, I'd completely forgotten that my Grandmother used to say that too. I assume that it was an old alternative form. I wonder what others there were.
DeleteNow you're making me wonder: Are you sure you got the time right?? (15:35 - or 14:35?)
ReplyDeleteThat detail aside - in Sweden we use the 24 hour system for anything official, like appointments and schedules. My dentist receptionists would definitely say 15:35. If, however, in casual speech we prefer to use the 12 hour system, in Swedish that would be expressed "five past half four" (fem över halv fyra). But 3:40 would be "twenty to four" (and then quarter to, ten to, five to). A Swede and a Brit agreeing to meet at half 12 are unlikely to get it right, because the Swede (unless well aware of the British way of counting) would turn up at 11:30, and would have given up waiting long before the Brit arrived at 12:30...
Thank you, Monica, for pointing out my error (duly amended). Your explanation of the Swedish 11:30 / 12:30 I found particularly fascinating..
DeleteIt won‘t surprise Monica (and you neither, I think) to read that we would say the same in German as in Swedish. Half twelve in German would be 11:30, but from my husband I learned to interpret British time speak right.
ReplyDeleteHere in my part of Germany, in our Swabian dialect we use a slightly different way of expressing times, often causing confusion with non-Swabians.
Like Monica, I was wondering whether your appointment was for 15:35 (like at the start of your post) or 14:35 (like you wrote later on).
Thank you for your observations. Meike, and yes, I have amended my error.
DeleteGraham, edit this and quick I suspect your clock is set to BST and her's to summer time. I'd advise that adding day, month and year will cause further confusion if dealing with our colonial cousins. Telling the time is easy. The big finger points at minutes and the little one at hours. The really little finger points at seconds but we'll not go there. Why hasn't time gone metric? They have the wherewithal as the Pede is a unit of arc like a degree. I can only suppose dividing it into Millipedes and Centipedes would sound silly in French and in German the word would be far too long. Either way it's far too much like insecticism or something naughty.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Adrian, for your very amusing views. The play on those words is endless.
DeleteI'm not familiar with the expressions in the last sentence.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting, Red. I would have thought they would have carried over into Canada.
DeleteAll very good arguments for 24 hour time.
ReplyDeletePresumably Blogger paying tricks again Anonymous. I agree the 24 hour clock has a lot to commend it.
DeleteThat is all very confusing, but it gets worse for me with 'next Friday' , 'a week on Friday' or 'Friday week' . I still think that the dreadful '9/11' was on '11/9'.
ReplyDeletePotty, I still forget that the US and the UK have their year/month different way around.
DeleteI always quote both. If booking a restaurant I always say for 7 pm or 19 hrs. That way there is no confusion; at least not for me!
ReplyDeleteCro, I find it strange how few people in the UK use the 24 hour clock.
DeleteA timely post. As Sandy Denny sang, "Who knows where the time goes?"....Timex - that's who!
ReplyDeleteWell, YP, I certainly don't know where all my time has gone and keeps on going. It certainly Fugits. Is Timex still going? It's certainly a blast from the past for me.
DeleteLOL at the confusion. We use a 'quarter after' and a 'quarter to'. I know half past but we usually just say 2:30 or 12:30 or whatever. They do not teach time on analog clocks in schools now. We have enough old clocks around here, that William has picked it up though.
ReplyDeleteDebby, I find it very interesting that there are no analog clocks in your schools. I'm not sure what the situation is in our schools. I wonder if any of my readers know. I'll try and find out but knowing the UK it will be a mixture of both. The clocks in my house are mainly analogue but I don't wear a watch and use my phone which uses a digital display.
DeleteThen to complicate things we have all of the different time zones to keep track of. A high school friend in Eastern USA will text us at 7:00 am her time but often it wakes me up at 6:00 am in the Midwest USA! I need to remind her about that. :)
ReplyDeleteEllen because so many of my friends and 'family' are in New Zealand and elsewhere and, in the case of my son, all over the world, I am used to thinking in a 24 hour timeframe but it doesn't stop me trying to work out who is on my Today and who is on Yesterday or Tomorrow (not all at the same time of course).
DeleteHow interesting to read all the comments and the different ways of telling time. We grew up with quarter-hours etc., but that all changed when digital watches arrived on the scene. I still prefer my old analogue watch :)
ReplyDeleteMargaret, this post has been an eye opener for me and on the odd occasions that I wear a watch it is an analogue one. However after reading all the comments I seem to have now started using a wide variety of ways of expressing time. I think that I still think in the 24 hour clock though.
DeleteI'm the same as above ^^^ I grew up telling the time as in quarter hour blocks on a clock on the wall, different from today where everything is digital.
ReplyDeleteAmy, I'm still wondering whether schools here use analogue or digital clocks. Those I have asked all look blank and say that they are not sure. I suppose we take these things for granted too much.
DeleteHa! Well, I just bought a Timex watch--so they are still in play. They are not expensive and can I read the watch face in the dark by pushing the dial button to light it up--like on an overnight flight when you don't want to disturb others. Have several long trips coming up the will require changing multiple time zones. I like having a watch on my wrist when I travel so I don't have to keep pulling out my mobile.
ReplyDeleteAs for the whole time/calendar discussion, I grew up being familiar with the UK, US and military (24hr) versions of discussing time, so I've heard most of those examples mentioned above in the comments (UK grandmother/mother, US father). I try remind US friends when they are booking overseas holidays (UK/Europe) to be sure they use the correct format of day/month/year when making reservations. It can be an expensive mistake to get the dates wrong because of follwoing the US month/day/year format.
Arrggh --correction: following.
ReplyDeleteMary, thank you for your comments and for the information. The date information is certainly good advice for your friends.
DeleteAs I'm flying to Taranaki today it seems fitting that I clarify with my daughter which is my departure time and which is my arrival time. Time flies!
ReplyDeleteAh. Pauline. You are not Anonymous!! And clarifying such information is, to my eternal embarrassment, exceptionally important.
DeleteIt's eight minutes past one here...PM, that is (I don't mean "Prime Minister", either)...
ReplyDeleteWell with you, Lee, it's 4 minutes past nine PM as I write this but a couple of weeks later.
Deletethen when you are in Switzerland its different again
ReplyDeleteDiane, I've never been in Switzerland long enough to notice and my Swiss watch has Roman Numerals.
DeleteMy husband likes to set his alarm clock and anything else he can using the 24 hour clock or military time, and that includes the clock in his car! It’s not my choice, but I have become used to it now.
ReplyDeleteBeatrice, I use the 24 hour clock for my alarm otherwise I would be afeared of setting the alarm 12 hours out (I only use it when going for the early morning ferry).
DeleteAh, tempus fugit. ;-) In Ireland, it was once arranged that my interview partner would have time for me at half twelve. So I was at the appointed meeting point at half past eleven ... only to find out an hour later that half twelve did not mean half past eleven but half past twelve.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there is a special kind of dating in Cork City. Let's say A proposes to meet at three o'clock. B asks: "Shandon time?"
You see, the dials of the Shandon tower are on the outside, so they go with the wind, and so the "four-faced liar" shows four different times.
Sean, many apologies for not realising that my response to your comment had not been published, I've realised this evening that it's not the only problem and I shall try and do a post on the subject tonight or in the morning. I remember giving the response some thought because it was such an interesting comment but at 2300 hrs after a long day wit fails me. However it was a very interesting comment so many thanks.
DeleteAh, Graham, an Irish proverb says, 'When time was made, enough of it was made'.
DeleteI've left God out of it ;-)
The peace of the night!