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.
Related question. Do 24 hour clock folks say fourteen o’clock if they’re talking about 2pm?
I’m Dutch. Usually we just say something like “2 in the afternoon” instead of 14:00 or 2 PM. But digital clocks and writing etc will use 24 hours. Every now and then people will use it though, saying 14:30 as “fourteen hours thirty”, but that’s quite rare and sounds a bit formal (or goofy).
They say fourteen hundred or 2 o’clock. I’ve never really heard anyone say 14 o’clock.
We definitely just called it 14 where I grew up
We called it 14 in Alabama. You’re talking about age of censent, right?
I’m german. if it’s completely unambiguous, we simply say “dinner is at 6” or “my shift ends at 4”. but when you want to make sure that there’s no room for confusion we say “let’s meet at 21 o’clock”.
In French, it’s pretty common to say 14 o’clock.
La fête est à quatorze heures.
Which is French for “I expect you’ll show up some time between 15:00 and 19:00.”
In my country younger individuals like me use the 24 hour system a lot verbally. Older generations from before smartphones (which always use 24 hour) uses the 12 hour system more.
But in general I would argue that people use the 24 hour system when talking about something which needs precision, like when the train arrives. And the 12 hour system when talking about something like when to meet a friend (it’s still very important to arrive on time though, regardless of how imprecise the time was, “about five” means five.)
In Denmark we say “2 o’clock” or just “14”. No one says fourteen hundred, except perhaps for a few military wannabes. Likewise, no one says “14 o’clock”.
If it’s quarter past 2, we’d usually say “14-15”. Half past 2 would be “14-30”, you get the idea.
I’m a nurse who uses 24-hr time at work and it’s about 50/50 with me saying “fourteen hundred” or “2pm” when speaking. I generally find that my colleagues understand both and use both interchangeably.
I basically always write the time as a four-figure number, and verbally refer to 1400 as “two o’clock”, “two in the afternoon” etc. in English but “viertien uur” or “twee uur” in Dutch.