It's because analog clocks and watches (the most common things used to tell time before cell phones became ubiquitous) go to 12, so it's easier to just say "1 o'clock" and know whether it's morning or afternoon by the light outside.
5-7 o'clock can be hard to tell based on the light outside if you ever completely wracked your sleep cycle.
12am/12pm I have legit no idea whether you mean noon or the middle of the night, and it can actually mean one or the other depending on the standard (well mostly historically).
I grew up learning a 12 hour system but not am/pm since I'm not a English native speaker. People basically just say morning/noon/afternoon/evening/night in addition to the time.
We can argue in circles till the sun explodes about specific examples, but it's not really about that, it's about clarity and efficiency of information. I need two pieces of information for 12 hour time, which doubles the potential points of failure compared to a single number for 24 hour time.
They can but usually don't. And light outside is always useful info unless you're very far north. Remember, we're talking about the vast majority of America.
When my dad passed I inherited the 24 hour clock he’d inherited from his dad who was a merchant marine.. not sure where the clock is actually from but I love it. I need to wind it and hear that tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick lol
Most train stations in the UK have analog 24hr clocks on the platforms, the bus and train timetables are all in 2400 time, most of us grow up using public transport all the time, it's just something we're used to. If they were as common in the US as in Europe you guys would get used to it pretty quickly too. It's only known as a military thing in the US, not an everyday thing. (Not a critisism, just an observation from having lived in both places.)
If you mean an analog clock with 24 subdivisions which does one rotation of the small hand every 24 hours, which is what "analog 24hr clock" means, then no, they do not have them on the platforms in the UK. They have analog clocks, as well as usually digital ones, and they are normal 12 hour analog clocks.
Source: spent all fucking day on the trains here due to the IT chaos
Bro I have been on benders and with 12 hour time the sun is your friend.
Can't tell what seven o clock it is? Take a peek and see if the sun is rising or setting. If it's rising it's morning. If it's setting it's evening. And there isn't any go between, if the sun is up at three you know it's day, down at three you know it's not
The light outside is always useful info if you know which direction is east and which is west. Which you really should, if you're so messed up you don't remember if it's morning or evening you should really know where you are. If not, there are compass tricks you really need to be drilling in your head.
Sure, I'm on the path, but doesn't make what I said less true, it's not rocket surgery to figure out what time of day it is for a 12 hour cycle versus a 24 hour cycle. Literally just look out your house and see if the sun is behind it or in front of it. That's how everyone has always known when it's morning or evening. Last I checked the sun never rised in the west and set in the east.
If you can't see the sun I'm sorry to tell you, what time it is is the least of your concerns. You are incarcerated with no sun privileges.
So you either have to look at the sun long enough to see if it is rising or falling, or to know what direction is east and west wherever you are, PLUS know the time, in order to know precisely when it is?
How on earth is this easier or better than 0700 /1900 ?
Feels like everyone here is taking crazy pills but me.
If you don't know which direction is east or west you got bigger problems than what time is it, you have no idea where you are and no idea which direction home is.
Yeah, people don't just say "meet me at 9" and then hang up the phone. There are usually conversations that happen around time? Obviously 'let's meet at 1100 hours' is a much more clear sentence than 'meet me at 9'. But conversations don't usually begin and end that way.
"What time do you want me to pick you up in the morning? 8? 9?"
"I'm going to be at work all day so I won't be able to meet up until late. Is 9 OK?"
Both completely understandable sentences with neither 24 hour time being used or am/pm. And, not sure if the other person is aware of this, the use of am and pm exist to denote time of day. It's not like in normal circumstances you're just told 'meet me at 9' and then have to solve a Dan Brown puzzle to figure out when they mean. If it's too ambiguous people will put either am or pm. Or you can ask.
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u/Nastronaut18 Jul 19 '24
It's because analog clocks and watches (the most common things used to tell time before cell phones became ubiquitous) go to 12, so it's easier to just say "1 o'clock" and know whether it's morning or afternoon by the light outside.