Do you automatically know how to convert the time to military hours?

[GoldenHours]

At work we always have to refer to military time/a 24 hour clock. I often see people having to count with their fingers to what the time is (e.g. counting that 8pm is 20:00). Similarly, with months I see people having to count with their fingers what number month it is when writing the date (e.g. counting to see that August is the 8th month).

Do you know the time in 24 hours and the number of the months off-by-heart or do you have to count it?

@Unfashionable

It just becomes automatic after a while. The aviation industry works in the 24h clock and in Co-ordinated Universal Time, or UTC, which is also known as Zulu time.

The current time as I write this in the U.K. is 21:59Z or 10:59 local. If I were in New York, the time would still be 21:59Z, but it would be 5:59 local.

yes i know it as Zulu time or Z-time

I'm interested in this as I live abroad and really struggled with the 24h clock for years... 17h looked like 7pm to me.

But would you actually use it when speaking?

So like, oh I'll meet you at 20. 15? I can't imagine that.

Or am I out of touch with how people speak in the uk now?

Like others I know both without thinking about them, All digital clocks in my home are set to the 24hr clock.

@Kite22

Of course. All adults should be able to do this without even thinking about it.

Why ?
There must be loads of things I've 'learned' at some point in my life, but if you don't ever use them, why would they be instant recall ?
There is no 'should' about it. People have different headspace and most of us prioritise things we use over things we don't.

yes I thought that was a bit snotty too

My Nan always used 24 hour clock and now I do as well.

2nd nature from many decades ago, since I worked for an airline. So also Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, etc.

I know the 24hr clock because I read the Chalet School books, and they use "continental time". But it's only a matter of adding or subtracting 12.

I know the phonetic alphabet from working in telesales.

I still struggle with alphabetic ordering - I frequently have to run through the alphabet song in my head to work out what comes before what!

@jamaisjedors

I'm interested in this as I live abroad and really struggled with the 24h clock for years... 17h looked like 7pm to me.

But would you actually use it when speaking?

So like, oh I'll meet you at 20. 15? I can't imagine that.

Or am I out of touch with how people speak in the uk now?

If arranging to meet someone I'd say 8.15 or quarter past 8. But if talking to someone about something like the time a train, bus or plane is due to depart, I would quite probably say 20.15 if reading from the timetable or departure board (because that's how they are listed). If just telling someone a departure time that I already know, I'd be more likely to say 8.15 but might sometimes say 20.15 depending on context and who I'm talking to.

It’s the same with the phonetic alphabet. Whenever I’m asked for my postcode over the phone, ‘Sierra Whisky one Alpa, zero Papa Romeo’ just comes out automatically.

For some reason I would always get mixed up when learning this and could never remember from 13:00-23-00. Someone told me a "cheat way" to remember.
00:00-12:00 easy to remember.
13:00-19:00 ignore the first digit (1) then minus 2 from the second digit and you are left with the correct hour of the day. E.g. 15:00, drop the 1 and you're left with 5:00 then minus 2 and it's 3:00.
Then all you have to memorise is 20:00-23:00.
Probably overly complicated but it helped me memorise it until it was second nature.

Where are you from OP?

Just asking as I know in USA it's called military hours and not a way of expressing time more generally used.

Yes I know the 24 hour click. If I read 20:00 then I don't have to think about what time that is.

I do think it just be confusing to others that in England at least we use am PM and 24 hours pretty randomly.

I've seen eg meeting will start at 10am and finish 14:00 in plenty of work mails!

I dont convert it I just know it. Are you American? I've never heard it called military time outside of America.

I’m British but worked in the airline industry, I know think in 24 hour clock

Eh? My primary aged DC can do this. Where do you work that adults don't know basics such as telling the time

Yes both, by heart. I write the date by hand very frequently at work in both short and long forms, and use both time formats frequently too.

Of course. I call it the 24 hr clock and it's as familiar to me as the alphabet.

It's the only way I see time really. If a digital clock said 3:30 I would have to double check whether it was daylight outside or not. It will always be 15:30 in my brain. Even when I look at a proper clock face my mind reads 15:30 when I know it's afternoon. I will still SAY half past three or three thirty though.

Never heard of an adult not knowing which number corresponds with which month!

After contributing to this thread, I have just looked at my phone and iPad and seen that I have the time set to the 24h clock on both. I never even noticed that before. As I said, it’s just automatic.

The months I know by heart.
The 24 hour clock (or military time as we call it here) I do not. I live in the United States and we never use "military time" unless you are in the military (at least that I've ever encountered in my 50+ years. My husband WAS in the military and he has his phone set to military time.

If arranging to meet someone I'd say 8.15 or quarter past 8. But if talking to someone about something like the time a train, bus or plane is due to depart, I would quite probably say 20.15 if reading from the timetable or departure board

Yes, same here. If I'm talking about specific train/plane/bus times, it seems quite natural to say 'I'll be getting the 13:01 and arriving at 14:15' but if someone asked me afterwards what time I'd got there, I'd say 'Quarter past two' (or more likely 'half past three' given the state of our railway network ).

Wanted to add that the time stamps on here are in 24 hour time and every time I want to figure out what time something on here was posted (beyond Noon) I have to count it out LOL

Well I know without thinking about it. As per pp, I've never heard it called military time though?

I do. However I have worked in payroll for 16 years so deal with clock cards, time and attendance systems and timesheets every day so it just comes naturally to me.