Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted, clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts: 1

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I hear phrases like "half-past", "quarter til", and "quarter after" way less often since digital clocks have became more commonplace. (midwest.social)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/showerthoughts

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Well, you could say "fourteen twenty" too.

But if "fourteen twenty" was a year we would think its "1420".

Likewise, 1400 is "fourteen hundred" and not "14:00"

Some military standards make a lot of sense, there's no problem adopting it if it's clear.

[–] Epilepsiavieroitus 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

But 14:00 is what the time is and what the clock shows, not 1400. So I would say 14 o'clock if not 2 o'clock. Would you say "it's nine hundred in the morning" too? Again, it's hours not hundreds. I'm sorry but I don't understand why you're talking about years.

For context my country uses 24h time and I grew up with it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

It is objectively wrong to say 14 o'clock, because "o'clock" refers to the orientation of an analogue clock.

Saying "it's nine in the morning" is redundant in a 24 hour system, because nine would never be anything other than that.

To say 'it's nine hundred" reduces the ambiguity slightly (because you can't really say o'clock).

If you simply say "it's nine" then other people might ask "what's nine?"

Is it "nine past nine"? Or are you telling me "no" in German?

Nine hundred is pretty clear, but not to our primitive ears