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.

    • 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.