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.

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[–] 20 points 2 years ago (10 children)

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.

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  • [–] 18 points 2 years ago* (2 children)

    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.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    The context is the am/pm after

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    The context is not always given though.

    With 24hours, that context is always given.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years 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.

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