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?

@Bloatstoat

24 hour clock no problem after long hours pretending I was at the Chalet School as a child The phonetic alphabet on the other hand... I used 'S' for sun and 'N' for noo-noo the other day to give my postcode as my mind went blank.

NOO-NOO 😭

I have to use my fingers for the 24hr clock, months of the year & math. I'm dyslexic and find visual props easier & less stressful as opposed to "doing it in my head". Unfortunately, trying to visualise numbers in words in my head doesn't work as they jump about.

@Classica
you obviously don't know any adults with learning disabilities then. How fortunate for you.

@godmum56

Sat 28-Aug-21 09:36:58 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 ? confused
There is no 'should' about it. People have different headspace and most of us prioritise things we use over things we don't.

But people do use the 24 hour clock every day!

everybody?

Yea, everybody in the U.K., surely? It’s on every shop opening hours notice, most written appointment confirmations, the digital clocks on most appliances.

And bus and train timetables/departure boards.

Yes, it's really quite basic - especially as watches & clocks tend to be digital, it's pretty standard, surely

No, my watch is analogue. The clock in my kitchen is analogue. The clock on the mantlepiece in my living room is analogue. The clock in the office at work is analogue.
My clock / radio alarm is digital, but has am/pm button and gets to 12 then starts again.

Yea, everybody in the U.K., surely? It’s on every shop opening hours notice, most written appointment confirmations, the digital clocks on most appliances.

Not where I live (in England) - I've just checked a couple of local shops and I checked the Drs, and both say 8am - 8pm type times.

But people do use the 24 hour clock every day!

But what people are trying to explain to you is NOT EVERYONE does.
Yes, I know railway timetables are in 24hours, but I don't that often get on a train, and when I do need to, I am lucky enough to live by a busy line and I know the next train will be along within the next 10mins - I don't need to look up the timetable. I can understand a timetable, but that is different from having instant recall.

Don't be ridiculous @Bamboocat. Over the decades we have all learned and forgotten so many things we once held in our memory - phone numbers, song words, our part in a play, car registration numbers, passwords, names of classmates or colleagues or team mates, specific things we learned for exams (the periodic table, maths formulas, Shakespeare quotes, history dates, etc etc etc.) Of course no human can retain everything they ever learn.

I personally don't have a problem looking at 17:00 and knowing that is 5pm, but I "think" in 5pm / '5 o'clock', not in '17:00'

Once again, some posters seem to struggle with the fact that other folk might not have the same lived experiences that they do.

I know the 24 hour clock and numerical months without thinking about it. Same with the phonetic alphabet.

Once again, some posters seem to struggle with the fact that other folk might not have the same lived experiences that they do.

Oh give us a break! Save the "lived experience" terminology for things that actually matter, like racism, not the bloody 24 hour clock! Sheesh.

@HaveringWavering

Once again, some posters seem to struggle with the fact that other folk might not have the same lived experiences that they do.

Oh give us a break! Save the "lived experience" terminology for things that actually matter, like racism, not the bloody 24 hour clock! Sheesh.

I find the 24 hour clock very difficult, but I'm older and was never taught to use it at school when young.
Some of them I know off by heart, but I mix up 15:00hrs and 17:00hrs and I have t work out 6, 7 and 8pm every single time!
In fact, I have been known to make serious errors with the 24 hour clock and therefore always convert it or write it as am/pm if I'm catching trains or working out medication times.....

Well it’s just a 24 hour clock really.

6am is 06:00

Midday 12:00

I would struggle with 8pm is it 20 hundred hours? But beyond that I’m ok.

@L1ttleSeahorse

They cover this in primary....

I wouldn't find it a problem but not heard it called milifary time!

🤣

Or even military! Milifary would be interesting....

Use 24h clock almost exclusively at work - international environment with multiple time zones can be confusing enough without people wondering if you meant a meeting at 7 am or pm.

Like a PP I think my chalet school addiction as a child helped.

My dh is American and they call it military time. He knew it vaguely when he moved here but they weren’t taught it in school although maybe they are now.

He knows it easily now but it took a bit of getting used to.

@HaveringWavering

Once again, some posters seem to struggle with the fact that other folk might not have the same lived experiences that they do.

Oh give us a break! Save the "lived experience" terminology for things that actually matter, like racism, not the bloody 24 hour clock! Sheesh.

It's definitely USA thing.

Here it's called 24 hour clock and we mix and match.

People understand what they need to. If something is not used in usual life then why would they know it?

Here we use both so people tend to know both.

@Kite22

Yes, it's really quite basic - especially as watches & clocks tend to be digital, it's pretty standard, surely

No, my watch is analogue. The clock in my kitchen is analogue. The clock on the mantlepiece in my living room is analogue. The clock in the office at work is analogue.
My clock / radio alarm is digital, but has am/pm button and gets to 12 then starts again.

Yea, everybody in the U.K., surely? It’s on every shop opening hours notice, most written appointment confirmations, the digital clocks on most appliances.

Not where I live (in England) - I've just checked a couple of local shops and I checked the Drs, and both say 8am - 8pm type times.

But people do use the 24 hour clock every day!

But what people are trying to explain to you is NOT EVERYONE does.
Yes, I know railway timetables are in 24hours, but I don't that often get on a train, and when I do need to, I am lucky enough to live by a busy line and I know the next train will be along within the next 10mins - I don't need to look up the timetable. I can understand a timetable, but that is different from having instant recall.

Don't be ridiculous @Bamboocat. Over the decades we have all learned and forgotten so many things we once held in our memory - phone numbers, song words, our part in a play, car registration numbers, passwords, names of classmates or colleagues or team mates, specific things we learned for exams (the periodic table, maths formulas, Shakespeare quotes, history dates, etc etc etc.) Of course no human can retain everything they ever learn.

I personally don't have a problem looking at 17:00 and knowing that is 5pm, but I "think" in 5pm / '5 o'clock', not in '17:00'

Once again, some posters seem to struggle with the fact that other folk might not have the same lived experiences that they do.

I'm not being ridiculous, as you put it, @Kite22 - I'm not talking about French verb declensions or the periodic table, I'm talking about basic stuff which most people could easily find a need for on a daily basis. Five plus twelve isn't exactly rocket science, is it? How hard can it be for the average grown-up to memorise the numbers up to 24?

I always used the 24 hour time as a child, my parents used it for some reason!
I'm crap with the months, though. Get past April and I'm a bit lost again until September!

I used to work on the railway. I think in 24h clock.

Yes I totally understand it. I've used it do long its second nature - plus my alarm on my phone is 24 hr.

BTW I dont see it as military time - I've never heard it called that before. I think of it as the 24 hr clock or European clock.

I do wish people wouldn't write (or say) 12 am or 12 pm. Noon is when the sun is at the meridian so it isn't before or after it. Likewise midnight is exactly 12 hours from noon so equally before or after it.

So which means midnight and which midday?

It matters when you have to be somewhere at 12/24.00.

(The above assumes GMT, or any of its other names, of course.)

@amicissimma

I do wish people wouldn't write (or say) 12 am or 12 pm. Noon is when the sun is at the meridian so it isn't before or after it. Likewise midnight is exactly 12 hours from noon so equally before or after it.

So which means midnight and which midday?

It matters when you have to be somewhere at 12/24.00.

Theres not many places I would go to at 24:00 , but I understand what you mean. Military (have heard it called that too!)/24 hour time just makes more sense to me. Although I would never speak in military time if someone asked me the time, I would just say "10 past three" or whatever, not "Fifteen-ten".

Months I have to think about but not in great depth, but not straight away.
Time I can do without thinking.