this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2023
618 points (98.0% liked)

memes

10197 readers
2056 users here now

Community rules

1. Be civilNo trolling, bigotry or other insulting / annoying behaviour

2. No politicsThis is non-politics community. For political memes please go to [email protected]

3. No recent repostsCheck for reposts when posting a meme, you can only repost after 1 month

4. No botsNo bots without the express approval of the mods or the admins

5. No Spam/AdsNo advertisements or spam. This is an instance rule and the only way to live.

Sister communities

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 92 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I'm sorry is this some American joke I'm too European to understand?

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Yes, they still use the imperial 12h system, not the metric 24h. Pathetic

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

we like to stay vigilant of the Sun's position relative to our meridian

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago

Ah yes, the sun is three washing machines off the football fields, time for some high fructose corn syrup 😋

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Hey, don't lump me in with those cretins, I've been using 24h for years.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Whenever a system puts in that format I just change it back to AM/PM, I just don't like it, I like to have less numbers (bigger numbers) on my screens... Not that it confuses me or anything.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Ah yes, the 1120PM is so much smaller than the 2320 on the screen

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

That's a bad example because you have to take off your socks to count that high in both cases.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Well, 23 is bigger than 11 isn't it?

That is totally what I meant, it is just how I got used to using AM and PM.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (8 children)
[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Nope “military time” as you call it, all the way babbyyyy

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Not military time. Just 24 hour clock

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't think I've ever seen any country other than the USA using the 12 hour system

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

The UK, as is often the case with these things, uses a horrible cursed halfway house system. I have every digital clock I own set to 24h time but know that I would get weird looks if I made plans with someone to meet at 18

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Same in Finland for spoken and some written (chat) stuff, that's where most of the time 12h is used, with just "let's meet at six" (no am or pm but clarified if not obvious from context).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Took me the longest time to understand what y'all meant by half-six. 5:30? 6:30? Now I'm unsure again. It is half past six, correct?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

It is in the UK! I fucked up a couple of times in Germany because it's the other way round there

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Some people use one 24h, other am/pm, but everything related to clocks always has the choice to use one or the other configurable. Most people use 24h format and most public info and tv shows and all that usually uses 24h. When I was a kid am/pm was used in more places, not sure why.

Basically everyone knows how to use both, it's obvious and straightforward, I don't think I've ever seen anyone ever not being able to know the time whichever foat was shown. Am/pm comes more often in informal talking when context of the conversation is obvious since it's much easier to say snack at 3 than snack is at 15.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

We just say 3 and expect you to understand that we aren't meeting in the middle off the night for a snack, context matters.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I'll never know what 12 AM and 12 PM are.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's used in spoken language, especially in combination with quarter past and stuff, but not in writing in not in the setting of digital watches

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

i have almost never seen anyone use quarter past/till around here

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Germany is divided into "quarter past/till" and "quarter/three quarter" but each with the 12h system.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Where are you from? Europe is big

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

That’s cool, I didn’t know you guys did that. I use 24 hour time at work and it confuses half of folks and the other half appreciate it

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

We use a mix in the UK, I prefer to use 24h when written down though, and my alarm app doesn't mention am/pm

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Romania uses it along with the other system

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's just a time system that can easily convert from one to the other. Not something to stake your superiority on.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I never claimed superiority. I only said that since Europeans are accustomed to 24h system, the joke becomes difficult to understand, because we don't have this problem.

But if you perceive this as some sign of superiority, well...

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 year ago

This is where empathy becomes a good skill to have. I'm certain you can understand the basic setup of the joke even though the exact situation may not be likely in your culture.

The joke isn't even about the time, it's about their anxious thinking.